News
April 23 , 2022
PM Shehbaz Writes Letter to Modi, Says Peaceful Pak-India Ties Imperative for Progress of Region
Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday penned a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling on him to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in the "interest of mutual peace and prosperity" for India and Pakistan.
Modi had congratulated the premier on his April 11 election as the prime minister and said India desired peace and stability in the region. PM Shehbaz had reciprocated the gesture and said Pakistan desired "peaceful and cooperative ties" with India for which a solution to the Kashmir dispute was "indispensable".
In Sunday's letter, a copy of which was available with Dawn.com, the prime minister reiterated his gratitude to his Indian counterpart for his well wishes and said that Pakistan remained "committed to the maintenance of regional peace and security".
The letter said Pakistan's sacrifices and contribution towards fighting and eliminating terrorism were "well known and globally acknowledged".
"We believe that peaceful and cooperative ties between Pakistan and India are imperative for the progress and socioeconomic uplift of our people and for the region.
"This can be best achieved through meaningful engagement and peaceful resolution of all outstanding disputes, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir," PM Shehbaz wrote.
He called on Modi to collectively secure peace and work for the "progress and prosperity of our people".
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Death Sentences Awarded to Six Persons for Killing Sri Lankan Accused of Blasphemy
Lahore: Six men have been sentenced to death over the mob killing of a Sri Lankan man accused of blasphemy in Pakistan.
Priyantha Diyawadanage, 48, a factory manager in the city of Sialkot, was beaten to death and his body set alight last December.
Of 88 people convicted, nine were given life sentences and the others jail terms of two to five years.
The case shocked the country and was described as "a day of shame" by the then Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Videos of the lynching on social media showed scenes of the incensed crowd dragging Mr Diyawadanage from his workplace and beating him to death.
They then burnt his body, with several people seen in the crowd taking selfies with his corpse.
The victim's wife, Nilushi Dissanayaka, described how she had seen him "being attacked on the internet... it was so inhumane".
What led to the mob violence?
The violence had begun after rumors spread that Mr Diyawadanage had allegedly committed a blasphemous action, in tearing down posters with the name of the Prophet Muhammad.
But a colleague, who rushed to the site in a bid to save him, told local media at the time that Mr Diyawadanage had only removed the posters as the building was about to be cleaned.
The scale of the vicious killing - involving hundreds of people - shocked the nation and sparked vigils.
Blasphemy is defined as speaking insultingly about a particular religion or god. In Pakistan, it can carry a potential death sentence for anyone who insults Islam.
The country's blasphemy law prohibits disturbing a religious assembly, trespassing on burial grounds, insulting religious beliefs or intentionally destroying or defiling a place or an object of worship.
Making derogatory remarks against Islamic personages is an offence - and in 1982, a clause prescribing life imprisonment for "willful" desecration of the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book, was added.
In 1986, a separate clause was inserted to punish blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad and the penalty recommended was "death, or imprisonment for life". - BBC
Courtesy https://www.dawn.com