Suleiman Qamar, the Punjabi tourist who was burnt alive by a mob in Swat over the allegations of desecration of the Holy Quran, has been talked about on social media since the video of his mother condemning him was released. One of his friends, Jawad Mir Advocate wrote an obituary about him in a blog for Pakistan 24.
Here are some of the details:
Originally from Sialkot, Suleiman belonged to a humble family, according to his childhood friend Jawad. After his father’s death, he struggled a lot for financial stability, eventually going abroad after clearing Intermediate exams.
His friend reflects that the victim was fond of poetry and used to quote distinguished poets like Iqbal, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Mir Taqi Mir. Accompanying the essay are pictures Suleiman took at the graves of famous poets and writers.
Suleiman was “lively”, writes his friend. He wanted to study the Quran in depth. Domestic disputes and problems regarding property distribution had made him bitter lately. “Due to current domestic quarrels, he was quite depressed, but all our friends have witnessed that from his childhood to his last days. We did not see any religious bigotry in him, nor did he engage in religious discussions. Neither did he have any habit of religious hatred, nor did he ever make fun of Islamic rites or any member of the religious community,” Jawad recounted.
Suleiman had distanced himself from many friends recently, but the friends he met have testified that it was because of domestic disputes. They did not see him utter a single word against Islam. He used to listen to Jawed Ahmed Ghamidi’s lectures and was an avid reader of Moulana Rumi.
“These aspects of Sulaiman’s life are important to present to all of you because of how easy it is to make serious accusations and kill someone in the worst possible way without investigation,” the friend asserted in the blog.
Jawad pointed out that people should have shown restraint and let the police deal with the matter lawfully.
An independent judicial investigation might bring forth something completely different from what is presented already. Jawad requested higher authorities to provide security to victim Suleiman’s family and get the perpetrators behind bars.
