Pakistan to blame for its own bad name: Malala

Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai hit out at Pakistan following the lynching of a university student accused of blasphemy. Mashal Khan was stripped naked and beaten to death with planks on a campus in the city of Mardan.

"No one is maligning the name of your country or religion... we ourselves are bringing a bad name to our country and religion," Malala said in a video posted to Facebook following a conversation with Khan's father.

In the video posted on Facebook following the victim's funeral, Malala said the Prophet did not tell his followers to "be impatient and go around killing people", claiming some followers have forgotten the message of peace and were not representing their religion.

"This was not just the funeral of Mashal Khan, it was the funeral of the message of our religion Islam," she said. "This is an incident filled with terror and fear."

Mashal Khan, a journalism student was shot dead by fellow students at the Abdul Wali Khan University in Pakistan's Mardan town on Thursday after being accused of blasphemy.

Insulting the Prophet Mohammed is a capital crime in Pakistan punishable by anything from a small fine to death, depending on the severity of the slight.

Last month, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif issued an order for the removal of blasphemous content online, adding that anyone found guilty of the offence would face, "strict punishment under the law".

--IANS

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