If this article doesn’t make you angry, I can’t imagine what it would take to do so. A mob in Pakistan dragged a man out of a police station, where he was taken after being arrested for blasphemy, and burned him alive.
A Pakistani mob has taken a man accused of blasphemy from a police station and burnt him to death, police say.
The man was being held for allegedly burning a copy of the Koran in public. The incident took place on the outskirts of Bahawalpur, in Punjab province.
Witnesses said hundreds of people looked on as he screamed for help.
It’s difficult for me to wrap my mind around this kind of barbarism. I just can’t imagine being so crazed and zealous that I could ever think this was okay. It’s simply barbarism.
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raven
July 9, 2012 at 12:14 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It probably never even happened.
It’s like the 25 alleged witches killed by the Puritans.
None of them were actual witches.
d cwilson
July 9, 2012 at 12:17 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
And remember, this is our “key ally” in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Marcus Ranum
July 9, 2012 at 12:17 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It’s “religious self-expression.”
lancifer
July 9, 2012 at 12:17 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Disgusting, but not particularly surprising.
raven
July 9, 2012 at 12:20 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
By it, I mean burning a Koran.
Most of these incidents are a result of mob hysteria, and/or false allegations for political and social reasons.
In Africa, around 1,000 child witches are killed each year. None of them are actual witches, of course.
It’s a religious thing. Hagee once claimed that a million children are killed each year in the USA by satanists, most on Halloween. No one has ever been able to find even one such case and the FBI once tried.
oranje
July 9, 2012 at 12:23 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I shouldn’t be surprised that these blasphemy laws enjoy such “support.” After all, do you want to stand up in the face of stuff like this and say that blasphemy laws are stupid?
Then again, when the mainstream seems to get upset about portrayals of a prophet, maybe the mainstream teachings need to relax just a wee bit.
Marcus Ranum
July 9, 2012 at 12:28 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
In Africa, around 1,000 child witches are killed each year. None of them are actual witches, of course.
By the Obama administration’s drone-missile logic: they are all witches. Because they were killed, and we only kill witches.
tommykey
July 9, 2012 at 12:33 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
My suggestion. Post signs in the village announcing a Koran burning on a certain date and time where this guy was murdered, and anyone who shows up to protest should have a bomb dropped on them.
raven
July 9, 2012 at 12:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
By normal logic, they can’t be witches.
If they were, they would have turned their wannabe murderers into frogs and that would have been the end of it.
Gregory in Seattle
July 9, 2012 at 12:40 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The American Talibangelicals would never, ever burn a man to death for blasphemy.
Shoot him to death, yes. But not burn him.
Philip
July 9, 2012 at 12:47 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
And I sometimes wonder why my opinion of human nature is so low.
Speaking of Pakistan, Stephen Andrew posted this over at Zingularity:
Pakistan denounces their only Nobel Laureate over his religious beliefs.
theschwa
July 9, 2012 at 12:51 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
True. Burning to death is saved for those who dare to burn the flag.
slc1
July 9, 2012 at 1:33 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Re Philip @ #11
What’s even more interesting is that the late Prof. Salam is the only Muslim to win a Nobel Prize in physics. According to his good friend, Steven Weinberg, with whom he shared that prize, he only became interested in religion in the last years of his life.
slc1
July 9, 2012 at 1:39 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Christofascists like John Hagee only wish they could do the same here to secularists and atheists.
Jeremy Shaffer
July 9, 2012 at 3:53 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I think I read about this the other day. To make it even worse, if I recall correctly, the man in question was mentally ill to boot. Unfortunately I can’t remember where I read about this.
vincenthos
July 9, 2012 at 5:08 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Repeat after me: Islam is a religion of peace.
Marcus Ranum
July 9, 2012 at 5:10 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
tommykey:
My suggestion. Post signs in the village announcing a Koran burning on a certain date and time where this guy was murdered, and anyone who shows up to protest should have a bomb dropped on them.
Ah, the “two wrongs do make a right!” crowd speaks up.
Woof
July 9, 2012 at 6:44 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Anyone know off-hand how many napalm-soaked Korans will fit into the bomb bay of a B-2?
tommykey
July 9, 2012 at 7:45 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Watch out Woof. Marcus Ranum will wag his finger at you too.
lancifer
July 10, 2012 at 12:33 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Woof,
Did the 9-11 hijackers carry Korans?
I guess it’s OK to burn a few Korans so long as you burn a few thousand infidels as well.
birgerjohansson
July 10, 2012 at 7:40 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Lynch mob storms police station.
Suggested remedy: Just like zombies. One bullet in chest to slow them down, one in the head. Organise the defence so the growing pile of bodies block access for the zombies behind. Use fire if convenient.
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Regarding the Nobel laureate in Pakistan. Ahmadis are a -relatively- liberal group of muslims and are of course persecuted by the entrenched factions of muslims.