The photograph of the mother of Sri Lankan factory manager Priyantha Kumara at her son's funeral in Colombo on Wednesday elicited deep sympathy from Pakistanis on social media.

Mourners gathered to conduct Buddhist rites for the victim and the image of his grief stricken mother at his coffin being held by a man and woman broke many peoples hearts.

“The most heart breaking photo on the internet today!” said user Waqas Khan.

“As a Pakistani I bow my head in shame,” tweeted user Mian Sagheer Ahmad.

Journalist Yusra Askari tweeted the picture and said that this “will haunt us forever.”

Human rights activist Saleem Javed offered his sympathies to Kumara’s mother and family.

The Sialkot lynching has also prompted many Pakistanis to discuss how the blasphemy law has been misused with some even calling for its review, maybe even repeal.

“About time we need to change blasphemy law as there is overwhelming evidence that it’s misused,” tweeted reporter Amir Mateen.

“Inserting a clause in blasphemy law that it does not apply to non-Muslims can help prevent mob lynching,” said journalist Mubashir Zaidi.

However, the discussion on the blasphemy law has prompted conservative thinkers like Ansar Abbasi to call on the government to ensure no such attempt is made.

“No one should take the law into their own hands, even if there is a crime, only the state has the right to punish. But now a section is talking about abolishing blasphemy law and saying that blasphemy should not be a crime. What kind of agenda is this?” he wrote on Twitter.

“Such incidents took place even before this law. Radicalism & VE are completely separate issues. Did Blasphemy law provoke Mosque attack in NZ etc etc,” said Ahsan Iqbal, former minister for interior and planning.