President forms committee to address rising religious tension

Set up on the recommendation of the cabinet, the seven-member committee includes Vice President Faisal Naseem, the president’s chief of staff, and the ministers for defence, home affairs, higher education, youth and sports, and Islamic affairs.

The committee was tasked with discussing the issue with the relevant authorities, “taking immediate action and setting long terms strategies to prevent actions of those who criticise religion and those who commit crimes such as wilful destruction of property and endangering the lives of people in the name of protecting religion.”

In April 2017, liberal blogger Yameen Rasheed was killed by a radicalised group of young men who believed he was guilty of blasphemy and insulting Islam, according to police. In the wake of the brutal murder, several sheikhs labelled Yameen as someone who “mocked Islam” and sought to justify his killing.