ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday condemned the “cold-blooded murder” of a Mardan university student by a violent mob on blasphemy allegations, saying the incident had sent a negative message to the world.”This is cold-blooded murder, and those behind it are trying to link it to Islam. Islam is a model religion and a framework of justice. Islam does not allow injustice with non-Muslims or even atheists,” he told a press conference in Islamabad.Nisar praised the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s decision to launch a judicial inquiry into the incident.”Even if the accusations against someone are true, there is a process [to pursue the case],” he added.Speaking about the issue of objectionable and blasphemous content on social media, Nisar said a vice-president of Facebook will come to Pakistan next month for talks on the matter.Nisar said the interior ministry had succeeded in removing a large amount of objectionable content from social media and the internet.
“We have been successful in removing a lot of posts. But we have figure out a way so they do not appear again. We need the support of OIC,” he said.Pakistan is also working with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to organise a conference in the near future to tackle the issue of blasphemous content online, he said.”In the next few months, after Ramazan, this conference will hopefully be held under the auspices of the OIC, but as an initiative of the Pakistani government,” he said.The minister also called out to internet service providers to help in the resolving the issue of blasphemous content online.”We also want to get to the people doing this from other countries, and we cannot do this without help of service providers,” he said.
Nisar said representatives of service providers from OIC countries will also be invited to the conference. The interior minister condemned the disappearance of PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s three close aides, who have been picked up from Islamabad and different areas of Sindh under mysterious circumstances. “I believe in the court of law. The disappearance of the three individuals is against the law,” he said.
“As for the two picked up from Sindh, the provincial chief minister is in a better position to speak about that. About the person picked up from Islamabad, we have investigated it. We have found clues through police, and are looking into the matter further,” he added.Nisar said an interior ministry official will be attending a hearing regarding the disappearance of the three individuals later this month.”Clues about the individual picked up from Islamabad will be shared with the court,” he said.
