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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SC issues pan-India directions for road safety, says expressways should not become corridor of peril
New Delhi (PTI): Observing that expressways must not become corridors of peril due to administrative lethargy or infrastructural gaps, the Supreme Court has issued a slew of pan-India guidelines for enhancing road safety, including a ban on parking of heavy vehicles on such roads.
A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar pointed out that national highways constitute two percent of India’s total road length but account for nearly 30 percent of all road fatalities.
A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar issued directions to the Ministry of Road and Transport, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and States and Union Territories to make roads safer, observing that the loss of even a single life to avoidable hazards like illegal parking or blackspots etc., represents a failure of the State’s protective umbrella.
"The loss of even a single life to avoidable hazards like illegal parking or blackspots etc., represents a failure of the State's protective umbrella. The 'Right to Life' enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India is not merely a guarantee against the unlawful taking of life, but a positive mandate upon the State to ensure a safe environment where human life is preserved and valued," the top court said in its order of April 13.
It passed the order in a suo motu case registered in the aftermath of the loss of 34 lives in successive road accidents on November 2 and 3, 2025, in Phalodi in Rajasthan, and Rangareddy in Telangana on the systemic negligence and catastrophic infrastructure failures that led to these inevitable casualties.
The bench, which issued pan-India directions said, “Recognising the safety of the commuter as an integral facet of the right to live with dignity as a constitutional obligation under Article 21 of Constitution of India, it is necessary in the interest to address the systematic root causes that these interim directions are issued in exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India.”
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The bench said the court reiterates that no pecuniary or administrative constraint can outweigh the sanctity of human life, and the strict timelines provided herein reflect the urgency of this constitutional obligation.
It directed no heavy or commercial vehicle shall park/stop on any national highway carriageway or paved shoulder except at a designated bay, lay-bye, or wayside amenity.
It said enforcement of the direction shall be effected through the Advanced Traffic Management System – ATMS real-time alerts to State Police, GPS – timestamped photographic evidence, and integrated eChallan generation.
"These directions must be complied with by the officials and personnel of National Highway Authority of India, state police, state transport department. The district magistrates of the concerned districts shall set-up a standard operating procedure for this purpose as regards periodical inspections and patrolling by all these authorities. These directions must be complied within 60 days from the date of this order," it said.
One of the important directions included prohibition with immediate effect on construction/operation of any new dhaba, eatery, or commercial structure within the Right of Way (ROW) of any national highway.
"District magistrates shall enforce demolition/removal of all new or existing unauthorised structures within 60 days, in terms of the CNH Act procedure and SOP dated August 7, 2025," the bench directed.
It said no department, authority, or local body shall grant or renew any licence, NOC, or trade approval for any site within highway safety zones without prior NHAI/PWD clearance and all such existing licences for such sites shall be reviewed within 30 days.
The bench further directed, "In every district wherever the national highway passes through, the concerned district magistrate within 15 days of this order constitute a district highway safety task force in every district across India within seven days of this order, comprising officers of the district administration, police, NHAI (or concerned land-owning agency), PWD, and local bodies."
Similarly, it further directed surveillance, patrolling and illegal parking surveillance of national highways, operationalisation of Advanced Traffic Management System – ATMS comprising cameras, speed detectors, emergency response and wayside amenities, construction of truck lay-bye facilities, accident blackspots and lighting and institutional co-ordination, reporting and road safety committee.
It directed MoRTH to file a compliance report after seeking data from different states and agencies before this court within 75 days from the date of uploading of this order.
"The respective authorities may take appropriate steps to coordinate with and facilitate all stakeholders for the purpose of carrying out the directions passed by this court. It is further made clear that, in case there are issues regarding compliance, the parties are at liberty to approach this Court," the bench said, as it has posted the matter for compliance after two months.
On December 15, last year, the top court mulled formulating pan-India guidelines to prevent road accidents on expressways and national highways.
