Outcry as police kills blasphemy suspect in controversial shootout
Police in southern Pakistan have shot and killed a doctor accused of blasphemy, sparking outrage from human rights groups.
Dr. Shahnawaz Kanbhar, a medical practitioner, was fatally wounded in a shootout with officers in Sindh province, under what police described as accidental circumstances.
Dr. Kanbhar had gone into hiding earlier in the week after being accused of sharing blasphemous content on social media, including insults directed at the Prophet Muhammad.
The situation escalated as tensions grew, and local Islamists called for his arrest. On Tuesday, protests erupted in the nearby town of Umerkot, where demonstrators burned down his clinic, demanding his immediate apprehension.
On Wednesday, police in the city of Mirpur Khas reportedly stopped two men on a motorcycle for a search, during which one of the suspects opened fire.
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According to a police report, officers returned fire, killing Dr. Kanbhar. It was only after the encounter that officers identified the deceased as the doctor wanted for blasphemy.
His companion managed to escape, evading arrest. Police chief Niaz Khoso confirmed the incident, stating that the officers had not been aware of Dr. Kanbhar’s identity at the time of the shootout.
However, conflicting reports have emerged regarding the circumstances of his death. Another police official, Khas Asad Chaudhry, suggested that Dr. Kanbhar may have been accidentally shot by his own companion during the exchange of gunfire.
Meanwhile, a relative of the deceased told BBC Urdu that the doctor had been killed in a “fake encounter” orchestrated by the police, an allegation that local authorities have vehemently denied.
In response to the controversy surrounding the killing, Sindh province’s Interior Minister, Zia-ul-Hasan Linjar, ordered an independent inquiry to investigate the full details of the incident.
The death of Dr. Kanbhar is the second fatal shooting of a blasphemy suspect by Pakistani police in less than a week. Just days earlier, another man accused of blasphemy was shot dead in a police station in Quetta, the southwestern capital of Balochistan province.
In that case, the suspect was killed by a police officer while in custody, sparking public debate over the role of law enforcement in such killings.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has voiced serious concerns over these deaths, condemning what it described as a “pattern of violence in cases of blasphemy” involving police officers.
In a statement released on Friday, the HRCP highlighted the alarming trend of extrajudicial killings in cases involving blasphemy accusations, urging the government to take immediate action.
“This pattern of violence in cases of blasphemy, in which law enforcement personnel are allegedly involved, is an alarming trend,” the HRCP said. “The rule of law must be upheld, and those accused must be given the right to a fair trial rather than being executed in encounters.”
Under Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or its sacred figures can face the death penalty, though the country has yet to carry out an execution for blasphemy. Despite this, accusations of blasphemy—whether based on solid evidence or mere rumors—often lead to mob violence, with suspects frequently being lynched or attacked by outraged crowds.
Dr. Kanbhar’s death came just a day after protests in Umerkot, where local religious leaders rallied their followers to demand his immediate arrest. The mob also burned down his clinic, leaving him with no choice but to flee.
Following his death, his relatives reportedly faced difficulty in burying his body, as local residents and officials attempted to block their access to burial grounds. The family was eventually forced to travel a considerable distance to lay him to rest.
Pakistan has seen a disturbing rise in attacks on blasphemy suspects in recent years, often driven by mob violence. In June, a detainee in the north-western town of Madyan was dragged out of a police station by an angry crowd and killed after being accused of desecrating Islam’s holy book, the Quran.
Despite the rise in vigilante justice, killings of blasphemy suspects by the police are rare. However, the back-to-back deaths of Dr. Kanbhar and the Quetta suspect have fueled concerns about the increasing involvement of law enforcement officers in such incidents.
While the government has not yet executed anyone under the blasphemy laws, the punishments remain on the books, contributing to a charged atmosphere where accusations of blasphemy frequently lead to violence and chaos.
For many, these recent cases underscore the need for reforms to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and improved protections for those accused.
As the inquiry into Dr. Kanbhar’s death unfolds, human rights organizations continue to call for justice and accountability in the face of what they see as a dangerous trend.
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