Pakistanis gather to suspect blasphemy murder

ISLAMABAD – Thousands of radical Islamists gathered in northwestern Pakistan on Friday in support of a man accused of entering a courtroom in the city of Peshawar earlier this week and killing a US citizen in court in a blasphemy case.

The American, Tahir Naseem, died from his wounds before he could be taken to a hospital while the suspect, Faisal Khan, was taken into custody.

The State Department said Naseem was staying in court after being “lured to Pakistan” from his home in Illinois and blocked by the country’s controversial blasphemy law, which international rights groups have sought to repeal. The U.S. statement did not elaborate on the circumstances under which Naseem was in the South Asian country.

The law of blasphemy requires the death penalty for anyone convicted of insulting Islam. But in Pakistan, simply claiming blasphemy can cause crowds in rebellion and vigilance to kill those accused.

“We are shocked, saddened and angry that American citizen Tahir Naseem was killed yesterday inside a Pakistani courtroom,” reads the State Department statement issued Thursday.

Pakistani officials said Naseem had been accused of blasphemy after he declared himself a prophet of Islam. Peshawar police, who initially identified him as Tahir Shameem Ahmed but later corrected themselves, said he was arrested two years ago.

The attacker was also initially mistakenly identified as Khalid Khan. It was later learned that his real name is Faisal Khan. It was not clear how he managed to enter the courtroom on Wednesday and take past security stations with a gun.

“We urge Pakistan to immediately reform its often abusive blasphemy laws and its judicial system, which allow such abuses to occur, and to ensure that the suspect is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.” said in a statement issued by Cale Brown, Deputy Chief of Staff.

In deeply conservative Pakistan, however, any attempt to change even the blasphemy law to make it harder to file charges or abuses has brought crowds to the streets.

At the rally in Peshawar, demonstrators held signs praising Khan for the murder, calling for his immediate release from prison and saying he killed Naseem because the government was too slow in pursuing blasphemy cases.

“We are not in favor of taking the law into our own hands, but Faisal did what the government should have done two years ago,” said Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai, who led the rally through the narrow streets of the old city.

Although Pakistani authorities have yet to carry out a death sentence for blasphemy, there are a number of defendants on trial. Most are Muslims and many belong to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam, insulted by leading Muslims as heretics.

In addition to the State Department, the U.S. Commission on International Freedom condemned Naseem’s murder.

“Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are indefinable to begin with, but it is wild beyond the belief that the Pakistani government was incapable of holding an individual from murder within a court for his faith, and an American citizen, nonetheless,” the commission member said. Johnnie Moore said in a statement.

“Pakistan must protect religious minorities, including individuals accused of blasphemy, in order to prevent such unimaginable tragedies,” Moore said in a statement.

The commission declared Pakistan a “country of particular concern” in its latest 2020 report because of its treatment of minority groups.

Religious minorities in Pakistan are being increasingly attacked as Prime Minister Imran Khan preaches a “tolerant” Pakistan.

Information for this article was contributed by Riaz Khan of The Associated Press.