NEW DELHI – Pakistans Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has declared the violence against a person on allegations of blasphemy contrary to Shariah and Islamic principles, according to a statement issued by the forum, which also suggested the constitution of a national commission that would make recommendations for preventing such acts, Dawn reported.

The statement was issued after the CII held a meeting that was presided over by the body’s chairperson, Qibla Ayaz.

It said the participants revisited the discussions of a CII meeting on December 20, 2021, which was called over the Sialkot lynching incident in which Sri Lankan factory manager Priyantha Kumara was tortured to death and his body was set on fire by a mob over allegations of blasphemy.

The need for improving the judicial system to prevent the recurrence of Sialkot-like incidents was stressed in the December 20 meeting.

In Wednesday’s meeting, CII members “again declared that subjecting any person to violence on allegations of dishonouring religion, desecration of the Holy Quran and Namoos-i-Risalat was against Shariah, inhumane and contrary to Islamic principles”, the statement read, Dawn reported.

The Council members called for taking to task the elements involved in the Sialkot lynching at the earliest so that “the nation’s confidence in the law and judicial system is restored”.

In this regard, they further pointed out that the “bigger issue is that of implementation of the law and uncertainty about [the suspects] being punished”.