The members of Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights have pointed out that extremism exists deep within the heart of our society among the educated and illiterate alike, particularly the youth, reported Dawn.

"Out of 130 suspects in the gruesome murder of Sri Lankan national in Sialkot, 120 accused were between the ages of 18 and 20," quoted Human Rights Secretary Inamullah Khan in the report.

He said a "similar pattern could be seen" in the Mian Channu mob lynching as the suspects in the case were mostly in their 30s.

As the meeting commenced under the chair of Senator Walid Iqbal, the members strongly condemned the Mian Channu incident that was considered portrayal of the society's mindset. It was also came to light that the above mentioned violent tendencies were mostly reported in 19 to 30-years-old and that they were mostly influenced by social media forums.

The meeting was attended by Senators Falak Naz and Mohammad Tahir Bizenjo as well as senior officers of the Ministry of Human Rights along with its related departments and agencies. Operations Additional Inspector General Sahibzada Shahzad Sultan and the Mian Channu district police officer (DPO) were also present.

During the course of meeting, the members asserted that religious forums must spread the stance of tolerance and the true spirit of Islam, while it was also necessary that stakeholders participate in developing a strategy to address the issue.

The committee chairperson proposed that a letter must be sent to the president, prime minister and speaker of the National Assembly so that they take notice of the matter.

Since the start of this year, 14 to 15 cases of mobs trying to instigate violence have been reported across the province so far, the AIG apprised members.

However, the case in Mian Channu was the only one where the police was not able to stop the blood thirst mob and as a result the man was killed, said the AIG, adding "last year, 77 cases of desecration of Quranic scriptures were registered, 83 in 2020, 56 in 2019, 68 in 2018 and 47 in 2017.”