Activist Jibran Nasir, in a tweet late Wednesday night, said
that the allegations of "blasphemy, foreign funding and treason"
against him by Bol Network were in response to the social activist
"pursuing justice in the Shahzeb Khan murder case".
Bol TV's show 'Aisay Nahi Chalay Ga' on Wednesday made the potentially life-threatening claim that Nasir's appeal in the Supreme Court against the Sindh High Court decision to retry Sharukh Jatoi and his accomplices in the Shahzeb Khan murder case is "akin to going against Islamic laws".
"Like
last time, your lies won't succeed, your resources won't matter, we
won't be intimidated, nor distracted," said Nasir on Twitter. "Our focus
is and will remain on the issue. We will fight our battles in court
against the injustice in the Shahzeb Khan and Shahrukh Jatoi case."
The show — previously hosted by televangelist Aamir Liaquat —
claimed that Nasir was "educated in an enemy country" and was "involved
in hateful and mischievous activities in Pakistan".
During the length of the episode, however, no evidence was presented to support the serious accusations against Nasir.
The
show, which is currently being 'hosted' by an anonymous figure called
'Mr Qoum' [Mr Nation], claimed that the social activist was linked to an
organisation operating on Indian funding.
Calling
attention to the allegations, Nasir shared a message on Twitter: "For
pursuing justice in the Shahzeb Khan murder case, for exercising my
constitutional right of approaching supreme court, Bol Network
is for the second time this year falsely accusing me of blasphemy,
foreign funding and treason just to protect Shahrukh Jatoi. For BOL its all about money."
In January, Nasir had approached the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) against Aamir Liaquat and Bol for running a defamatory and life-threatening campaign against him.
Acting on several similar complaints, Pemra initially slapped a ban on Liaquat's show shortly thereafter but later asked him to apologise "unconditionally to the viewers" by "specifically naming all individual complainants against whom hate speech was aired".
Blasphemy
is a sensitive charge in Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can
trigger mob lynchings and violence. A man was sentenced to death for
committing blasphemy on Facebook in June.
In May, a
10-year-old boy was killed and five others wounded when a mob attacked a
police station in an attempt to lynch a Hindu man charged with blasphemy for allegedly posting an incendiary image on social media.
At least 65 people have been murdered by vigilantes over blasphemy allegations since 1990.
