Priyantha Kumara over an alleged act of blasphemy and set his body ablaze.

The production at the factory has resumed, but the attendance is slightly thin, a worker at the Rajco Industries told Bol News outside its premises requesting anonymity. Some of the workers are too afraid to report back on duty, he said.

This correspondent tried to visit the factory on Wednesday, Dec 8, but he was denied admission. “Visitors are not allowed,” said one of the guards politely. “The owner has barred visitors here,” he said.

The shuttering of Rajco Industries’ gates for outside visitors remains understandable. This modern and one of the leading sportswear manufacturing and exporting company of the country, established in 1935, has become a global story following the murder of its Sri Lankan manager.

Now this manufacturer of cricket kits for Pakistan’s T-20 World Cup squad is in the limelight for all the wrong reasons because of one of its kind gruesome acts of violence there.

Who could have expected a December 3 like barbarity at the premises of this factory, whose owners used to take pride in providing an employee-friendly atmosphere.

Eyewitness account

Now many of its employees talk in hushed voices and most are reluctant to engage with strangers. After much prodding, only a few workers agreed to talk to this scribe, but that too on the condition of anonymity.

“Priyantha had only asked some of coworkers to clean the machinery and remove stickers pasted on them. Unfortunately, as he was unable to read Urdu, he was unaware that some of those stickers carried religious messages and sayings …. he had to pay a heavy price for that.”

Another eyewitness said that the Sri Lankan had removed those stickers and threw them in a basket. “(But when), one of his colleagues informed him that these stickers had religious text written on them, he apologized and said that he had immense respect for Islam… he said that he is extremely sorry… he wasn’t aware of what was written on the stickers,” said the witness. “How can he then be accused of blasphemy when it wasn’t intentional?”

The third witness said that the main accused, Saboor Butt, who instigated the violence and now has been arrested by the police, had an axe to grind with the Sri Lankan manager.

“Saboor Butt had been issued a number of warnings by Priyantha because of sloppy and careless work,” the third witness said. “Priyantha once asked him once to mend his ways otherwise he would get fired… that’s why probably he decided to take revenge,” he alleged.

All the workers interviewed by Bol News were unanimous in praising Priyantha’s professionalism and strong work ethics, which unfortunately cost him his life.

Role of Police

Contrary to the generally bad reputation, the police acted swiftly after the tragedy in this particular case.

Janu, a pan-shop owner, whose shop is right in-front of the Rajco Industries, said that police reached the spot within 10-15 minutes after the incident and cordoned-off the area. “But by the time the police were informed about the incident, Priyantha had already been killed and his body was set ablaze right on this main-road,” he said, pointing towards the place where the last minutes of this barbaric drama was staged.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister Usman Dar praised the role of the Sialkot Police. “DPO Omer Saeed Malik and his team arrested the culprits within hours. They deserve praise for managing the sensitive situation,” he said.

Agreeing with Dar, a local journalist Baber Ahmed said that the way police took ulema and business community on board to condemn the incident remains admirable.

“The prompt police action and severe condemnation from the clerics here did not allow the culprits and hooligans from becoming heroes…,” said Baber. “Had they not taken timely measures, those 800-900 violent workers would have made things much worse here.”

Malik Adnan dedicates award to Priyantha, Sri Lankans

Talking to Bol News, Malik Adnan, who showed extraordinary courage while making an effort to save Priyantha’s life, said that he has dedicated the award given to him by Prime Minister Imran Khan to his late colleague Priyantha Kumara and the people of Sri Lanka.

“I am grateful to our honourable Prime Minister for awarding me a commendation certificate and Tamgha-e-Shujaat,” Adnan said, adding that his ultimate aim on December 3 was to somehow save his colleague.

“I tried my best, but failed. I feel really sad. Such incidents should not happen again in Pakistan. They tarnish the name of our country,” he said.

When asked what kind of a man Priyantha was, Adnan said that he was a good human being and like a teacher for many of his juniors. “Many of those trained by Priyantha are now serving in different industries at high positions,” he said.

When asked whether he fears for his life after this incident, Adnan said that he has been constantly in touch with the law enforcement agencies, but he hasn’t received any threat from anyone. “I am not afraid and I will not go anywhere… (I) will continue to work with more zeal and passion,” said Adnan, who has become a hero with the nation overnight.

Extremism: What is to be done?

The murder of the Sri Lankan, while remains a huge human tragedy, also underlines the fact that the challenge of extremism and religiously-motivated violence remains very much alive even in Imran Khan’s “Naya” Pakistan.

Many civil society members slam the government, for what they called its failure in reining-in the growing tide of extremism.

Indeed, the harrowing Sialkot incident is not the first of its kind. In recent years, the wild mob attacks against the hapless victims accused of committing blasphemy have been occurring with regular intervals.

These violent incidents coupled with a sharp rise in the activities of radical religious groups, advocating a culture of intolerance and violence, underlines the persistent challenge of extremism faced by the country.

According to some critics, the situation exacerbates by the government’s wheeling and dealing with hardline religious-political groups, including the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which staged a violent protest across the country last month and had the last laugh by getting a number of their demands approved, including the release of their leader Saad Rizvi.

For Dr. Riffat Hussain, an acclaimed political analyst, the horrific lynching of the Sri Lankan citizen on false accusation of blasphemy underscores the barbarity that hardliners and illiterate are capable of committing in the sacred name of religion.

He said that the barbaric actions of some factory workers were also because of the bad-working conditions and tension-filled environment for which the factory management is responsible.

“Measures must be taken to normalise things for the working class. They should be encouraged to get education and live with peace and harmony,” said Dr. Riffat.

Pakistan’s civil and military leaders and people from all walks of life have condemned this barbaric act which remains a good sign, according to Dr. Riffat. “But the larger question of the state’s complicity in failing to discourage the rise of religious extremism and militancy has not been addressed,” he said.

The state institutions have been too deficient in performing their constitutional duties of protecting the lives and property of all its citizens, he said. “The result is a breakdown of law and order, where such mobs act as judge, jury and executioners.”

Dr. Maria Sultan, a leading defence analyst and South Asian Strategic Stability Institute University (SASSI) Diirector General, said that it remains the responsibility of the state to clearly communicate that those responsible for violence under any pretext, will be held accountable.

Veteran Politician and Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, said the Sialkot incident is against Islam and the Constitution of Pakistan. “This incident is a failed-attempt to discredit Pakistan and those responsible should be severely punished,” he said. “Generally, people are peaceful and tolerant in this country, but miscreants and nefarious elements are always trying to provoke the masses by making false allegations in an attempt to discredit Pakistan. This trend must be checked and nipped in the bud.”

Pakistan Peoples’ Party Vice-President and Parliamentary Leader in Senate, Sherry Rehman also condemned the killing of the Sri Lankan saying that what happened in Sialkot was shameful and reprehensible. “Bloody gangs cannot be allowed to take the law of our country in hand,” Sherry said.

She recalled that such incidents have happened to Pakistani citizens before as well and this should not be considered as a one-off incident. “When will we make our decisions to crush such violent forces? she asked.

“Unfortunately, the misuse of religion has now reached its peak. Sometime back a National Action Plan was drawn up to tackle extremism, which was formulated with consensus. Why was this plan buried?”

PTI govt’s plan of action

On December 6, the federal government announced that it will devise and implement a comprehensive strategy to crush and mitigate gruesome incidents like the Sialkot lynching one.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by the Prime Minister in Islamabad, in which the security situation in the country came under review.

The meeting was attended by Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Jawed Bajwa, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, National Security Advisor Dr Moeed Yousaf, Chief Minister Punjab, Sardar Usman Buzdar, and several senior military and civil officers.

The meeting was of the view that individuals or mobs cannot and should not be allowed to take the law into their hands and such incidents would not be tolerated in the future.

“Therefore, a comprehensive strategy shall be implemented to curb such incidents and strict punishments to all the perpetrators shall be ensured,” said a statement issued by the government.

Later, on December 7, Prime Minister Imran Khan while addressing a condolence reference at his office for Priyantha Kuamara, said that his government will not tolerate any such incident in future.

“Let me be very clear, if the government found anyone using religion, especially resorting to violence in the name of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), we will not spare him or them.”

“The Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) came to this world as a blessing for the entire human race and not just Muslims,” the premier said.

“It has been witnessed that some individuals are wrongly accused of blasphemy in our country and are thrown in jail to rot in there because neither there is any lawyer, nor any judge who wants to support them, unfortunately,” said the PM. “This kind of sham justice is not prevalent in any humanitarian society of the world. And this must end in Pakistan now.”

But analysts said that statements weren’t enough to curb extremism. The government would have to walk the talk and devise a comprehensive strategy to prevent such incidents in the future.