American citizen shot dead in Peshawar court; US slams Pakistan and orders Imran to act

The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs of US State Department on Thursday condoled the death of an American citizen Tahir Hussain who was killed inside a courtroom in Pakistan on Wednesday. The department urged PM Imran Khan-led 'Naya' Pakistan to take immediate action and pursue reforms that will prevent such a "shameful tragedy" from happening again.

'Take immediate action'

Tahir Ahmad Naseem, an elderly man from the minority Ahmadi community, facing trial for blasphemy, was shot dead on in front of the judge in a local court situated in a high-security zone in Pakistan's Peshawar city, police said. He was arrested two years ago on blasphemy charges and died on the spot in the court of Additional Session Judge Shaukatullah Khan, they said.

The court is situated in a high-security zone in the cantonment area where the provincial assembly building, the Peshawar High Court, chief minister's secretariat and Governor House are also situated. Security at the main gate and inside the judicial complex is also high. It was not clear how the armed attacker managed to get into the court amid tight security.

Police arrests the killer

The police arrested the killer, identified as Khalid Khan, from the courtroom. Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, with even unproven allegations often prompting mob violence.

READ | Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook CEOs face US Congress on competition, antitrust laws

Anyone convicted, or even just accused, of insulting Islam, risks a violent and bloody death at the hands of vigilantes. Rights groups have said the blasphemy laws are routinely abused to seek vengeance and settle personal scores. There had been a number of incidents in different parts of Pakistan in which members of the Ahmadi community were targeted by religious zealots in the past.

READ | 'Over 1 lakh vacancies advertised,1.9 lakh job-seekers registered on job portal': Kejriwal

Pakistan's Parliament in 1974 declared the Ahmadi community as non-Muslims. A decade later, they were banned from calling themselves Muslims. They are banned from preaching and from travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage. Many members of the minority communities in Pakistan - the Ahmadis, Hindus, Christians and Sikhs were charged with draconian blasphemy law. Many of them are languishing in jails on the false charges of disrespecting the Quran.

READ | Amazon CEO opines on 'cancel culture'; calls social media a 'nuance-destruction machine'

READ | 'Why I think Sushant Singh Rajput was murdered': Subramanian Swamy cites 24-point evidence

(With agency inputs)