Published 13:19 IST, August 2nd 2020
Imran Khan's neta leads social media campaign to celebrate killer of US citizen in Pak
The reason why Pakistan is celebrating Khalid is because he shot a man in broad daylight inside the Peshawar courtroom, in front of a sitting judge on Wednesday
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Certain sections in Pakistan appear to be celebrating a new youth icon — Khalid Khan, whose images are flooding social media as netizens laud the new national hero. The reason why Pakistan is celebrating Khalid is because he shot a man in broad daylight inside a Peshawar courtroom, in front of a sitting judge on Wednesday afternoon.
Celebrated as the 'lion' and 'ghazi' of Pakistan, social media's glorification of Khalid and its complete whitewash of the gravity of his offence only exposes how hollow Pakistan's administration and justice system is.
The man who was shot in broad daylight - Tahir Ahmad Naseem - was a US citizen and also an Ahmadiyya Muslim, one of the highest persecuted communities in Pakistan. He was fired upon in the courtroom not once, not twice, but six times while Khalid howled at the man calling him 'an enemy of Islam'.
Tahir Ahmad Naseem was facing charges of blasphemy, a law which guarantees a death sentence in Pakistan.
Pakistan's very own ruling party PTI's leader Haleem Adil Sheikhput up a photo of the killer on his Facebook page shortly after the incident, changing his display picture with Khalid in a filter that showers flower petals onto the photo.
Ahmadiyyas along with several other minority communities have been time and time again abused under Pakistan's blasphemy laws which rules out the offender's pleas and ensures a quick end to the 'criminal.'
The fact that Naseem was murdered in the middle of Pakistan's court and judiciary mid-trial, only for his killer to be celebrated as a national icon, throws massive light on the decades of violence against minority communities in the country, which is not only real and happening but is also celebrated. The US has slammed Pakistan over the shocking incident.
We extend our condolences to the family of Tahir Naseem, the American citizen who was killed today inside a courtroom in Pakistan. We urge Pakistan to take immediate action and pursue reforms that will prevent such a shameful tragedy from happening again.
— State_SCA (@State_SCA) July 30, 2020
13:19 IST, August 2nd 2020