The Sialkot Carnage: Are Pakistanis Becoming a Savage Nation?

While the nation was busy dealing with the destruction and devastation of the flooding, yet another tragedy was unfolding in Sialkot on August 15, 2010. Two brothers, named Moiz Butt, aged 18, and Muneeb But, aged 16, were brutally tortured and were beaten to death in public in a village near Sialkot. Not by the Taliban, but by the general public. It was just not murder, it was something much worse. It was a slow, torturing, painful and horrific death. They made them suffer for hours, brutally beat them with metallic rods, stones, bricks and canes and God knows what else.

There can not be a good enough or an encompassing post on this tragic incident, and maybe this is not the first time that such a barbaric and brutal act has taken place in the sub-continent, given the rich history of the region in riots and mob attacks. But still, there is something about this incident which is very tragic, and more shameful than the similar ones occurring in Karachi, for example, in which angry public mobs burnt three robbers alive, who were caught red-handed. I hope I am just not overreacting in publishing this post.

They were just two young boys, who were somehow alleged to be “robbers” by the self-righteous local village mob, and were later confirmed not guilty of any crime at all. I won’t go into details of the case history, neither do I know about them  too much like most people, and it does not matter anyway, since murdering someone like this in absolutely unacceptable. This not only shows how barbaric and insensitive the general public have become, but also how inhuman, morally corrupt and ineffective the state institutions and law enforcement authorities are.

Even video clips were recorded of the incident, which is why everyone can feel its intensity. The media crews arrived and documented the incident. The Punjab Emergency Rescue Service 1122 arrived at the spot for help, but the police and the security administration of the corrupt bureaucrats working in the area prevented anyone from interrupting the carnage. The boys were totally innocent and belonged to a law-abiding and noble family living in Sialkot and were the sons of one Sajjad Butt.

First of all, let me apologize for posting these clips of this incident, but I need to document them in order to present the evidence of the case under discussion and also to convey the intensity of this incidence and why am I so upset about it.

I recommend you not to watch these clips at all if you are sensitive to violence or have a weak constitution. If you have to watch, then maybe you should not go through the entire length of the clips. These clips will only offer you an idea about the intensity of this savage, brutal and barbarian act and are only posted here to offer an evidence to this tragic incident. If the description of the incident is enough for you, I advise you to skip them altogether, if you are not one of those curious types.

The incident as reported by Geo News.

The incident discussed in Dunya TV talk show Hasb-e-Haal, through which I learned about it.

This is the most graphic video, so you can choose not to view it. However, as an evidence I am posting it anyway. Apologies to anyone who considers it offensive, but viewer discretion has been advised.

Yet another graphic and horrific depiction, which goes to show how brutal were the mob. Viewer discretion advised. If the description suffices you, you can choose to avoid the pain of watching this clip.

They were brutally beaten, bathed in their own blood, with almost everyone putting in their “contribution” to make them bleed even further, which shockingly even involved old men and little children. Then they were dragged on the roads and were finally hanged and humiliated. They even tell me that they finally put their bodies outside their homes transported to there by putting them on a truck. I have a feeling these brutal savages knew who these boys were and that they were specifically targeted.

The account in the media, that the boys were thought to be “burglars”, since there had been a burglary in that neighborhood just earlier, does not convince me at all. Maybe it is true, but if it is, only shows how cold-hearted and cruel those people were. The people were really beating the boys, as it is evident from these clips. I have a feeling that there is more to this story, which is being covered up by the people, the corrupt DPO, the local administration and the criminal police of the area.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary has taken the notice of this incident and has slammed the Sialkot DPO Waqar Chauhan over this tragedy. As a matter of fact, all of the civil servants operating in the area  should step down after this incident, and the “criminal” police should take responsibility for this carnage. In fact, almost a weak is about to elapse and the police  is still unable to submit a report for this incident.

A Word on the Morality of the People

This incidence occurred during the Holy Month of Ramadan, which is still continuing as I write these lines. A Muslim is even forbidden to verbally abuse someone, leave alone beating anyone or harming physically. And this tragedy occurred in broad day light, when people were supposedly fasting. I wonder about their faith in Islam, God and Ramadan when they were resorting to such a brutal act. They should be ashamed to call themselves human beings after doing so.

At least I am ashamed to be a Pakistani and a human being after learning this.

If you refer to my article about educating yourself against prejudices, I had talked about how people have no problem with murdering human beings and watching violence, as their minds get conditioned for it, when they approve of little acts of violence, such as killing an insect. I am not saying that I am a perfect human being, but I am just referring to the fact how little intolerance to violence can lead to greater acts of violence.

The people who were so brutally beating the poor boys did not think for a minute how it would feel if they were beaten up by everyone in their place. How it feels when a metallic rod hits you, how it feels if everyone kicks you when you are already bleeding to death and cannot take it anymore, and how it feels to be humiliated and killed by a slow death in this painful and inhuman way. I bet that coward mob would not even be able to take a single blow.

Again, people are as brutal as they can do something as horrific and savage like this act is simply because of the fact that they have no concept whatsoever about the importance and the sanctity of life. They neither have any regard for the life of other and neither for their feelings. They can gather and kill two innocent young boys and make an exhibition out of it, and no one was there to stop them.

At this point, I must say that I have never felt more disgusted and disappointed at the Pakistani nation ever before in my life. But I have never known of a more brutal and violent incident in my life as well. The nation certainly has fallen to a new low with this act, and shame on the state, the bureaucracy and the ever-corrupt police, who are nothing but a bunch of criminals.

The alarming fact is that would people treat anyone like this who they consider as criminals, even without confirming it? Does it not make them criminals themselves? I don’t think there is a single criminal offense in the world which deserve such a brutal punishment, which is a clear violation of human rights. And by the way, why did the authorities let the people take law in their own hands and did nothing to stop them? In fact, they protected the mob.

As far as the culture of public punishments go, it is not a new concept in the region at all. People are stoned to death regularly in countries like Iran, Afghanistan and the Tribal Areas in North Western parts of Pakistan, particularly the areas controlled by the Taliban. But unfortunately, many Muslims approve of such inhuman and barbaric methods of punishment.

It is because of such religious concepts that the masses are encouraged to resort to brutal and violent means in “punishing” whosoever they think is “wrong” by their sub-human standards. What these people really need is an education. Not only should they be taught the importance and sanctity of life, but they should also be cured of the prejudices and hatred which plague their hearts.

This tragic and horrific incident should get every Pakistani worried and thinking. It is not an everyday incident or act of crime at all. For if they do not speak out against it, and talk about it, so to educate the unaware masses out there, many of them could find the same treatment on the streets.

After this incident, I will never be able to defend Pakistani people again, ever.

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DISCLAIMER: None of the video clips have either been recorded or uploaded by the author, or owned by him. They have been taken from YouTube, where there are even more clips available for the same incident, and can be accessed by anyone.  The author only came to know about the incident on the day of the publishing of this post, that is, August 20, 2010.