Pakistan police on Friday said they launched an investigation into the lynching and burning of a tourist whom a Muslim mob murdered for allegedly burning pages from the Quran.
The incident occurred on Thursday night when a Pakistani man from Punjab visited Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and was accused of blasphemy by an angry mob.
Swat Valley is a major tourist destination, thanks to its stunning natural beauty. Swat Valley is also noted for grim Islamic fundamentalism, having long served as a base of operations for Tehrik-e-Taliban, the “Pakistani Taliban.”
The Pakistani Taliban has roughly the same position on topics — such as Sharia law, banning girls from school, and enforcing blasphemy laws — as the Taliban in Afghanistan does. The Pakistani military ostensibly expelled the Taliban from Swat Valley in 2018, bringing tourism and commerce back to the region, but…
