Amid all the chaos and barbarity witnessed last week in Pakistan, there is a glimmer of hope that has restored the faith of Pakistanis in humanity and their countrymen.
Malik Adnan emerged as the lone warrior attempting to pacify the mob and save the Sri Lankan man killed by the mob in Sialkot on Friday.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced the top award, Tamgha-i-Shujaat (Medal of Bravery) for Malik Adnan for risking his life in an attempt to protect his colleague, the Sri Lankan man from mob lynching.
Adnan will be awarded the top honor for “endangering his own life by physically trying to shield the victim,” PM Khan announced on Twitter.
In videos of the incident shared on social media, Adnan was seen confronting a group of angry men and attempting to save Priyantha Kumara, but in vain as the workers later overpowered him.
Kumara, 49-year-old factory manager, was brutally killed and his body set on fire after some of the factory workers falsely accused him of blasphemy to settle personal scores.
Over 900 protesters have been booked and 124 arrested under terrorism charges by the police. “Punjab police have identified and arrested six more main suspects in the last 12 hours with the help of CCTV footage and mobile calls data. The suspects were hiding at the houses of their friends and relatives,” Punjab police said.
PM Khan said he had spoken to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and assured him that justice would be done in Kumara’s lynching case.