The Mashal test

No public lynching in Pakistan has confirmed how deep the rot in Pakistani society is than the lynching of young Mashal Khan at the Bacha Khan University in Mardan last year. At a time when another young hopeful Pakistani, Malala Yousafzai, has returned to the country after five years with a message to educate, what happened to Mashal Khan is a reminder of how education itself has failed young Pakistanis. Instead of a message of love and accepting difference, the education system as it stands is designed to systematically breed hate. And it is in this system of hate that hopeful voices like Mashal Khan’s can be silenced so brutally. Where there is sadness and grief, there is also the hope that young people like Mashal have carried. This is the hope that his parents held on to as they celebrated his birthday last week. It was a celebration of his life and a promise not to forget him. This is the promise that all Pakistanis must make – to put aside our divisions and celebrate the lives of young people who hope and struggle for a better Pakistan, despite the heavy odds and despite many of their peers not sharing their vision.

Mashal Khan’s family have stood up as a ray of light when they could be forgiven for feeling like there is no hope left. They have relentlessly pursued justice for their son and they have refused to cover in front of the forces of hatred that use brute force to silence those who want a peaceful and progressive Pakistan. The courts may appear to be failing Mashal but his family will not rest until justice is done. After sixteen of those convicted of being accessory to the murder of Mashal Khan were released on bail earlier this month, Mashal’s family appealed through the courts. The pressure has had its impact. Two of the main accused who had evaded the police for months have been arrested and now face trials. The Mashal Khan case is a test of the nation’s conscience. Can we allow a student to be murdered in cold blood on false accusations of disrespecting our religion? Will we allow universities to become sites which produce murderers or places that produce a progressive Pakistan? Will our courts be scared of mobs or will they be tools to stop them?