A Hindu school owner was accused by one of his students of committing blasphemy in Ghotki, Sindh resulting in a complete shut down as a violent mob of hundreds terrorised the town.

No casualties have been reported so far probably because the main accused was taken into custody before the mob could get their hands on him that would have most likely resulted in him getting lynched as has happened in such circumstances so many times before.

Ghotki’s local police administration has arrested the attackers and those involved in ransacking the Hindu temple, homes and shops, while the accused Hindu school principal has also been arrested on account of blasphemy accusations

Ghotki incident reminds the nation of Pakistan to take substantial measures to eliminate mob violence and riots triggered by blasphemy allegations, it also highlighted the fervor of harmony and unity between Sindh’s religious communities.

According to the police, security personnel were able to take the teacher to an undisclosed location pending official investigation even though the best they could do about the destruction of the temple(s), and other government property, was watch quietly from the side as always.

And Additional Inspector General Sukkur, Jamil Ahmed, can pat himself on the back for a job well done all he wants, but surely his “situation in Ghotki is back to normal” tweet was a touch premature, to say the least. Registering cases against 23 named and 20 unnamed offenders for vandalism and rioting is all very nice, but what of the people whose businesses and lives have just been ruined? The suffering of Ghotki’s minorities, especially Hindus, is hardly new.

Earlier in May, violence erupted in Mirpurkhas when a local vet allegedly used paper inscribed with religious texts to wrap medicine. After the incident, a mob vandalised shops and houses, mostly belonging to the local Hindu community.

In 2017 Mashal Khan, a prominent figure at his university was shot dead after being falsely accused of blasphemy by a KP tehsil councillor among others. Although no one has been given the death sentence for the crime they usually languish in jail for years seeking justice. It took ten years for Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman falsely accused of blasphemy to win her freedom. During those years the country would see the murder of a sitting governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who took up her cause and opposed the blasphemy law; multiple violent protests across the country led by religious extremists against her release and the formation of the TLP, a far right religious party whose politics revolves around the blasphemy law.

Sindh’s town of Ghotki is home to thousands of Hindus, and the total population of Pakistan consists of over 3.3 million Hindus. Blasphemy is one of the gravest crimes in Pakistan, however, the majority of the cases that have come forward have either been marred with bloodshed and mob violence or have been proven factitious and false.

Human rights groups reveal that around 67 people have been killed over dubious blasphemy charges since 1990. The penalties for blasphemy tend to range between small fines to the death sentence, depending on the gravity of the statements enunciated by the accused.

It is important to note that the courts of Pakistan have never ordered an execution on charges of blasphemy, however, such accusations, even if rumored or false, trigger mob violence, riots and cases of lynching. In multiple cases, people have been discovered to be misusing the blasphemy law to entrap non-Muslims or settle scores. It is high time the government start punishing those who misuse the blasphemy law with the same ferocity that is meted out to an alleged blasphemer. Those using their influence to aid or incite a mob should be made an example of. The Sindh government must not ignore this latest incident and take action; otherwise there will be more of the same.