Pakistan: Man charged with burning Qur'an dies in custody under mysterious circumstances

And here again, there is no proof that he actually burned a copy of the Qur'an. It is unlikely that anyone would actually do such a thing in Pakistan, since the result would be near-certain torture and death. On the other hand, the Qur'an is so obviously an instrument of repression and injustice in Pakistan that maybe there really is a steady stream of people there ready to grab the matches. "Mysterious circumstances: Blasphemy accused dies in custody," by Asad Kharal in the Express Tribune, December 3 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

LAHORE: A 22-year-old youth, accused of burning a copy of the Holy Quran, died in police custody at Warburton police station on Sunday, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The youth, Nadeem, was detained without an FIR by the Nankana Sahib police seven days ago. Police say he was being kept in protective custody. He was later shifted to Warburton police station, 20km for Nankana Sahib.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Nankana Sahib district police officer (DPO) Ghulam Mubashar Maken said the youth fell severely ill while in custody at Warburton police station and subsequently died.

He said allegations against Nadeem had not been substantiated so far. He added that they were informed by a local committee of Ulema that there was no proof so far to suggest the youth had burned the Holy Quran copy. Since they had been waiting for the committee’s final decision, no case was registered against the youth, DPO Maken said.

Meanwhile, police have handed over Nadeem’s body to his heirs and initiated proceedings under section 174.

DPO Maken said Nadeem’s father Yousaf had told the police that his son was mentally unstable. He added that even after his son’s death, Yousaf was unwilling to take legal action.

Police officials also suggested that Nadeem was tortured by local resident when they allegedly discovered him burning a copy of the Holy Quran. They also suspect he may have been an addict....

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8 Comments

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Islam_Macht_Frei | December 4, 2012 3:18 AM | Reply

If he wanted to go out in style, he should have wrapped it in bacon and deep-fat fried it.

Iddo | December 4, 2012 5:00 AM | Reply

Hey don't rush to conclusions so fast! It may well have been due to "excessive psychological stress". After all "Yousaf had told the police that his son was mentally unstable". Such things are known to have happened before...

Iranian blogger Beheshti 'may have died of shock':
Iranian prosecutors say the death of blogger Sattar Beheshti in police custody may have been due to "excessive psychological stress".

gravenimage | December 4, 2012 10:44 AM | Reply

Pakistan: Man charged with burning Qur'an dies in custody under mysterious circumstances

And here again, there is no proof that he actually burned a copy of the Qur'an...
.............................

Not that it matters. In pious stretches of Dar-al-Islam like Pakistan, a mere accusation is enough to carry a de facto death sentence.

The youth, Nadeem, was detained without an FIR by the Nankana Sahib police seven days ago. Police say he was being kept in protective custody.
.............................

In other words, there wasn't even a formal charge. As for the "protective custody" bit, this means he was likely at risk for being murdered by a Muslim mob keen on slaughtering a "blasphemer".

Of course, as it turned out, he wasn't any safer with the pious Pakistani police...

...allegations against Nadeem had not been substantiated so far. He added that they were informed by a local committee of Ulema that there was no proof so far to suggest the youth had burned the Holy Quran copy. Since they had been waiting for the committee’s final decision, no case was registered against the youth, DPO Maken said.
.............................

As I noted, the accusation itself is enough. Even people who have been found not guilty and released from prison are often then gunned down by members of the Ummah.

Meanwhile, police have handed over Nadeem’s body to his heirs and initiated proceedings under section 174.

DPO Maken said Nadeem’s father Yousaf had told the police that his son was mentally unstable. He added that even after his son’s death, Yousaf was unwilling to take legal action.
.............................

This means that either his own father believed that Nadeem deserved to die, or that he understands that poking into the circumstances of his son's death could be hazardous to *his own* health...

Police officials also suggested that Nadeem was tortured by local resident when they allegedly discovered him burning a copy of the Holy Quran. They also suspect he may have been an addict....
.............................

That might be further smearing of the victim's character—or the neighbors might have decided that the best way to get an addict off their street was with a bogus accusation of Qur'an burning...

pulsar182 | December 4, 2012 11:23 AM | Reply

He probably died from Islamic lead pipe syndrome...

Buraq | December 4, 2012 11:24 AM | Reply

Man charged with burning Qur'an .......

Ah, but which Qur'an? The Qur'an in circulation read by the Sunnis is the 1924 version of one reading (qirat) of the Qur'an. It is certainly not the one that the Caliph Uthman sent out, according to Islamic sources.

There are so many Qur'ans, it would be helpful if a Muslim spokesman said which Qur'an was burnt.

Clowns!

dumbledoresarmy replied to comment from gravenimage | December 4, 2012 7:12 PM | Reply

Seconding that.

In a situation where the person accused of 'blasphemy!' and subsequently rubbed out of existence is a Muslim rather than a non-Muslim, the first thing any infidel observer should ask themselves is: who among the victim's ever-lovin' Muslim bruvvas and sistahs would benefit from the demise of so-and-so?

In the case of non-Muslim victims of such accusations, of course, it's often a twofer; they are targeted because they are not Muslims, but very often *also* because there is a personal grudge to be satisfied and/ or something material to be gained (for the accuser, the accuser's family, the Ummah at large) by getting rid of them...and, usually, the rest of their family and community as well.

vnbushman | December 5, 2012 6:06 PM | Reply

Burning Korans is totally ineffective. What should be happening is we should all be reading the Koran, the Hadith, and learning all we can about the ideology of Islam. Burning the Koran is totally ignorant.

If we are going to be effective, we must know all we can about Islam. There is only one truth. And its not Islam. But very few non-Muslims have a clue about the real Islam....

Ignorance is very ineffective....

gravenimage replied to comment from dumbledoresarmy | December 5, 2012 8:34 PM | Reply

So true, DDA.

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