Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday (4) called President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the UAE to speak about the lynching of a Sri Lankan national in Sialkot, Pakistan last week.
“Spoke to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today in the UAE to convey our nation’s anger and shame to people of Sri Lanka at the vigilante killing of Priyantha Diyawadana in Sialkot. I informed him 100-plus people arrested, and assured him they would be prosecuted with full severity of the law,” Khan tweeted.
The victim, Priyantha Diyawadana, a general manager at an industrial complex in Sialkot, was lynched by a mob of extremists last week.
The spouse of the victim speaking to broadcast media last afternoon appealed to President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Khan to do justice by her husband and her children.
“My husband was a kind and innocent person. I saw his inhumane death on the news and saw the same being shared on the internet. I ask the Sri Lankan Government, President Rajapaksa, and the Prime Minister of Pakistan to conduct a fair investigation into his killing and appeal to them to deliver justice to my husband and our two children,” Nirishi Dasanayake told the media.
======
The Foreign Ministry is in the process of getting the final count of Sri Lankans currently residing in Pakistan, including migrant workers and students, while President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday (4) appealed to Pakistani Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to ensure the safety of Sri Lankans residing in Pakistan, The Sunday Morning learnt.
There are almost 500 Sri Lankan migrant workers currently residing in Pakistan registered with the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), and the Pakistani Government has taken all necessary efforts to assure their safety, SLBFE Deputy General Manager Mangala Randeniya told The Sunday Morning.
However, Randeniya speculated that there could be more Sri Lankans in Pakistan, particularly students, and that the Foreign Ministry was working to corroborate the exact number.
Meanwhile, President Rajapaksa yesterday appealed to PM Khan to ensure the safety of other Sri Lankans currently residing in Pakistan, stating he was deeply saddened by the merciless lynching of the Sri Lankan professional. “As an ardent friend of Pakistan, Sri Lanka commends the actions taken by the Government of Pakistan led by Prime Minister Imran Khan to ensure justice, immediately after this brutal assassination,” the statement issued by the President’s Media Division noted.
Pakistani PM Khan, in a Twitter message, said he spoke to President Rajapaksa to convey his nation’s anger and shame over the killing of Priyantha Diyawadana to the people of Sri Lanka, and informed him that over 100 persons were arrested and would be severely prosecuted.
PM Khan had earlier stated that he was overseeing the investigations into the killing and that those responsible will be punished with full severity of the law.
Last Friday (3), a mob in Sialkot, Pakistan, brutally murdered Priyantha Diyawadana, a Sri Lankan who worked as an export manager of a private factory, and set his body on fire over blasphemy allegations.
According to SLBFE’s Randeniya, latest reports from Pakistan indicated that the Police had arrested a prime suspect and booked over 800 under the Pakistani Anti-Terrorism Act. The Police had stated that one Farhan Idrees, the key suspect, had been detained.
It had been reported that an initial report of the incident was submitted to PM Khan by the Punjab Police.
The initial investigation had noted that the Sri Lankan citizen was killed over allegations of blasphemy and that the matter was being probed from all angles.
The initial report submitted to Khan had further stated that at least 112 suspects, who were identified with the help of the factory managers, had been detained.
“The body of the deceased has been handed over to the Police after a postmortem for legal formalities, and the remains will be brought to Sri Lanka within the next two days,” Randeniya said.
Last evening, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Pakistan Vice Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama had stated that arrangements are being made to send Priyantha Diyawadana’s remains to Sri Lanka tomorrow (6) from Lahore to Colombo in a special flight.
Meanwhile, government and Opposition parliamentarians yesterday condemned the killing of a Sri Lankan national by an extremist mob in Pakistan. Government parliamentarian Shantha Bandara drew attention to the murder and condemned the attack. Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena told the House that the Government expressed its condolences over the death. Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardana called on Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to intervene and bring the matter to the attention of the Pakistani Parliament through its Speaker to ensure that justice is meted out to the victim, and ensure the safety of other Sri Lankan workers in Pakistan. Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara said the Opposition also condemned the incident and requested the Government to intervene to ensure that justice was served.
Issuing a statement, the Muslim Civil Society Alliance (MCSA) expressed its outrage and condemnation at Kumara’s murder. They stated that it is a heinous and inhumane crime that should not be permitted, and that extrajudicial vigilantism cannot be tolerated at any cost, regardless of one’s religion, ethnicity, or nationality.
The MCSA commended PM Khan and his administration for taking immediate action in ordering the arrest of the offenders.
“We understand that over 75 (persons) have been arrested and an investigation report has been called for within 48 hours. We sincerely hope that Pakistan will set an example to the world that extremist vigilantes will face tough judicial action. We call upon Prime Minister Imran Khan to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice and to compensate the family adequately for their loss,” the MCSA statement added.