Pakistanis have expressed shock at the brutal mob-lynching of two teenage brothers in Sialkot on August 15, 2010. The men took turns savagely beating the two teenage brothers with sticks, drawing blood before dragging and hanging their dead bodies from a nearby pole. None of the dozens of people watching tried to stop the attack, not even several police. The boys may have been mistaken for robbers.

The killings occurred August 15, 2010 in Sialkot, a town in eastern Punjab province. As details have emerged, authorities appear increasingly confident the two boys Moiz Butt, 17, and his brother Muneeb, 15, were innocent. The two went to play cricket after praying and eating breakfast, carrying a bag with them containing game equipment, said Mujahid Sherdil, a top government official in the district. They were sons of a middle-class man who deals in fabric for soccer balls. Moiz was honored with the title ”hafiz” for having memorized the Muslim holy book, the Quran.

An armed robbery had taken place in the vicinity of the cricket field, so residents were on alert and police were nearby. Apparently, when the boys appeared with a bag, they were thought to be the robbers, Sherdil told The Associated Press.

The Supreme Court has taken notice of the double murder. The SHO ‘concerned’ has been arrested and a case registered against 14 people. The IG Punjab has suspended a few policemen in Sialkot and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has also woken up to the situation. As he castigated the police the chief justice remarked: “What message have you given to the world about Pakistan?”

The agents who promote such despicable acts of violence must be identified. Those in the media must introspect and see how much they have contributed to the sense of desperation found among Pakistani citizens today, while the police must be taken to task along with rulers who encourage the law-enforcers and the general public to play judge and executioner. The very day newspapers reported the Sialkot double-murder, they also carried a news item about the awarding of the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz to the DIG Gujranwala, Zulfiqar Cheema, for “maintaining law and order”. The police officer, in whose jurisdiction Sialkot also falls, appears to do his job in a manner that is condemnable. There are serious allegations that under his watch people have been killed in encounters and their bodies paraded through the streets. When the state rewards such actions, it is actively creating conditions for incidents such as the one that took place in Sialkot. The state is no less guilty than the SHO who has been booked.