Pakistan has become a den of individuals belonging to minority religions, especially Hindus, Sikhs and Christians, being murdered over charges of “blasphemy”. Another case has now emerged from Sialkot, Pakistan, where a Sri Lankan man Priyantha Kumara has been tortured and burnt to death by an irate Islamist mob that believed rumours of blasphemy.

The incident took place on Wazirabad Road in Sialkot, where reportedly the workers of private factories attacked the export manager of a factory and burnt his body after killing him. 

In the video, the irate mob can be heard chanting “Nara e Taqbeer” and “Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah”. Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah essentially means “Here I am at your service, O Messenger of Allah”. Other slogans that could be heard as the fanatics burnt the man to death were ‘gustakh-e-nabi ki ek hi saza, sar tan se juda sar tan se juda’. 

The victim who has been murdered by Pakistani Islamists was the GM of Rajko Industries in Sialkot. He was originally from Sri Lanka.

Hours after this brutal murder, the video of which had gone viral, the mastermind of the lynching was heard gloating over the murder amidst chants of ‘Nara-e-Taqbir’, ‘Labbaik’ and ‘Allah hu Akbar’.

Reuters, that covered the news, attempted to whitewash the brutal lynching with its headline.

The headline of the article report was, “Sri Lankan manager killed by mob of workers at Pakistan factory”.

While in the report itself, Reuters wrote about the blasphemy lynching and the version of the police, in the headline itself, Reuters hid the extent of the brutality heaped upon the Sri Lankan man. Further, Reuters did not mention in the headline that the mob lynching was owing to Blasphemy rumours by an Islamist mob. None of the Islamic slogans raised was mentioned by Reuters.

By the headline of Reuters, one would think that this was a mob murder by “factory workers” due to some other reasons and not religious fanaticism.

While Reuters tried to downplay the brutal murder of the Sri Lankan man in Pakistan, where lynching over blasphemy charges has become a familiar sight, the paper had maligned Hindus when locals had killed Mohammad Akhlaq.

The headline that Reuters had chosen at the time was, “Hindu mob lynches Indian Muslim rumoured to have killed a cow”.

Mohammad Akhlaq was killed in Dadri because of a rumour that he had stolen a cow and slaughtered it. While communal colour was given by the media to the case, the reality is that in rural India, killings over cow is far more about livelihood than about religious sentiments attached to cows. Cows are often the source of livelihood for several people in rural India and when the cow is stolen and slaughtered, more than religious sentiments, it is the livelihood that gets affected.

Reuters in its report wrote, “While many members of India’s majority Hindu community see cows as holy, beef is widely eaten by Hindus in parts of the south, as well as by members of lower castes and minority Muslims and Christians”.

In fact, during COVID, Reuters was found splashing pictures of Hindu funeral pyres, shaming Hindus and India by extension.

While Reuters shames Hindus constantly, not just did they shield the mob violence in Pakistan today, but they also tried to whitewash the attack against Hindus in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, which is at least 91% Muslim dominated, Hindus were being persecuted simply because they dared to be Hindu and pray to Maa Durga. As Bengali Hindus from Bangladesh started celebrating Durga Puja, Muslim mobs vandalised at least 20 pandals and desecrated the idols. After a false rumour of the Quran being desecrated, several more Durga Puja pandals were vandalised and over 150 Hindu families were attacked. 

Sharing a video of an attack on Hindus, Advocate Dr Gobinda Chandra Pramanik, Secretary-General of Bangladesh Jatio Hindu Mohajote tweeted, “The situation is terrible!! Attacks on 150 families in Shilpara, Cox’s Bazar, widespread vandalism, looting, vandalism of Hatiya in Noakhali, vandalism of idols in municipal Kalimandir, attack Vandalism, molestation of women, 2 people have been found dead in Chandpur.” In yet another update, advocate Chandra shared the news of the publicity secretary of Chandpur district branch of Bangladesh National Hindu Youth Grand Alliance being hacked to death.

While Hindus were being massacred, Reuters wrote an article talking about how Bangladesh was rallying behind Hindus. In fact, Reuters had also called the blind attack a “clash”, insinuating that Hindus and Muslims had “clashed” and that the attack was not a one-sided assault on Hindus.

The Western Media has long published reports where they openly demonised Hindus and India. However, when it comes the crimes by Muslims, which are rampant, especially crimes with religious undertones, western media like the Reuters seem to start whitewashing the crimes to shield the community.