Grieving wife of Sri Lankan national lynched in Pakistan pleads for justice
Colombo(PTI): The grieving wife Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana, who was lynched over allegations of blasphemy in Pakistan, has pleaded for justice from both the Pakistani and Sri Lankan governments, saying her husband was a very innocent man.
In a shocking incident on Friday, angry supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) attacked a garment factory and lynched its general manager Diyawadana before setting his body on fire over allegations of blasphemy.
As pressure mounted on the Pakistani government to bring the guilty to justice, over 800 people have been booked under terrorism charges while 13 prime suspects are among 118 arrested so far in the horrific lynching of the Sri Lankan national in Punjab province.
I got to know about the brutal murder of my husband from the news, later I saw this on the internet as well. He was a very innocent man, she was quoted as saying by BBC Sinhala.
I request leaders of Sri Lanka and Pakistan to do justice for my husband and two children, by bringing the perpetrators to justice, she said.
Sri Lanka's NewsWire website reported that Ministers Namal Rajapaksa and Prasanna Ranatunga on Saturday visited the residence of Diyawadana in Ganemulla, about 22 kms from here.
Diyawadana, a graduate from the University of Peradeniya, is survived by his wife and two children.
He left for Pakistan for employment in 2010 and has been working as the manager of the Sialkot factory since 2012.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Pakistan Vice Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama said that arrangements are being made to transport the mortal remains of Diyawadana on Monday from Lahore to Colombo in a special flight, the NewsWire reported.
Diyawadana, who was in his 40s, was working as the general manager in the Rajko industries (dealing in garments sportswear) in Sialkot district, some 100 kilometres from Lahore.
Sri Lankan Parliament and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday condemned the lynching and hoped that Prime Minister Imran Khan will keep his commitment to bring all those involved to justice and ensure the safety of the rest of the island nation's expat workers.
A mob of over 800 men gathered at the factory at 10 am Friday on reports that Kumara had torn a sticker/poster (inscribed with Islamic verses) and committed blasphemy. They looked out for him and found him (from the rooftop). They dragged him, beat him severely and by 11.28 am he was dead and the body was set on fire by the violent mob, Inspector General of Police (Punjab) Rao Sardar Ali Khan said.
The mob after burning the body of the Sri Lankan national had blocked the Wazirabad road. Police from different stations reached there to control the situation, he said.
The incident sparked widespread condemnation from all walks of life. Police were also chided for reaching the crime scene after the incident. Only a couple of policemen can be seen in one video asking the people to stay back while the body was burning.
In April 2017, an angry mob lynched university student Mashal Khan when he was accused of posting blasphemous content online.
A Christian couple was lynched and then set ablaze in a kiln in Punjab in 2014 after being accused of desecrating the Quran.
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If Cong high command has to decide on leadership, they should do it before Feb: Parameshwara
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday said that if the Congress high command has to decide anything on the leadership issue, they should do it before the budget preparation in February.
He said, whether the leadership should be changed or not will be decided by the Congress high command.
"The budget preparation will begin in February, Roughly one more month. If the high command has to decide anything on this issue, they should decide before that," Parameshwara said in response to a question on the leadership issue.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "Someone will have to prepare the budget, right? The budget has to be presented based on the assurance we have given to the people of the state. It will be done."
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To a question regarding some people staging a demonstration in Delhi, during the recent Congress Working Committee meeting, demanding that Prameshwara be made the CM, the Home minister said, "Those who say that Prameshwara should become CM, they would have said it out of affection towards me. How can I tell them not to say such things? You seem to be suggesting that I should tell them not to say such things."
On reports of a team of Congress leaders meeting AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal in Delhi, with a demand to make Parameshwara CM in case of leadership change, he said, "The Congress high command will have all the information. They will take information from the general secretary, and they also gather information in their own way."
"They know what has to be decided and when. Whether the leadership should be changed or not. All of this will be decided by them," he added.
Parameshwara, who had served as state Congress chief in the past, had himself last month said that he too was in the race to become the CM. Also, there has been demand for a "Dalit CM" within the Congress in case of leadership change, with Parameshwara as one of the prime contenders.
There have been speculations within the party circles too about Siddaramaiah's faction preferring Parameshwara or other senior leaders among them for the CM post, in case of any changes.
Asked about Congress MLA Iqbal Hussain's statement that there is a 200 per cent chance for Deputy CM D K Shivakumar to become the chief minister of the state on January 6 or 9, Parameshwara jokingly said, "Once Iqbal Hussain has said it is final. Whether I accept it or not is not the question."
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Amid the leadership issue, Siddaramaiah, on December 19, had asserted on the floor of the Assembly that he would continue in office. He had also said that the Congress high command was in his favour and asserted that no decision was made on his staying at the helm for only two-and-a-half years.
Reacting to this, Shivakumar had said that he and CM Siddaramaiah have come to an agreement with the involvement of the Congress high command, and both of them will abide by it.
