ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: The United States urged Pakistan on Thursday to take action over the killing of an American national in a crowded courtroom as he faced trial for blasphemy.
Tahir Ahmed Naseem was shot multiple times at close range as he appeared in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday.
"We urge Pakistan to take immediate action and pursue reforms that will prevent such a shameful tragedy from happening again," the US State Department said in a tweet.
As Naseem's arraignment began before the judge, a young man in the room pulled out a handgun and shot him in the head, officials and witnesses said. The young man was arrested on the spot.
On Thursday, supporters of a hard-line Islamist group held a protest rally in Peshawar calling for the release of the suspected shooter, saying he had defended his religion.
The aftermath of the killing, captured on video and shared on social media, showed Naseem slumped over in a chair beside the judge's bench, as other shackled prisoners, some with bloodied clothes, were taken from the room.
"The young man who shot him had no remorse," Latif Afridi, who heads the Peshawar High Court Bar Association, told Reuters.
Afridi questioned how the man managed to get a gun into the court given that all visitors are checked thoroughly at three different points.
"It is likely someone who can go without being checked, perhaps a police officer or a lawyer, handed the shooter the gun after he entered," he said.
According to the charge sheet against Naseem, seen by Reuters, the American was in contact with a student at an Islamic school in Pakistan on Facebook and told him he was a messiah sent by God.
Naseem later met the student in Peshawar, after which police arrested him and charged him with a number of crimes, including blasphemy, which can bring the death penalty in Pakistan.
US urges Pakistan to act after American charged with blasphemy shot in court
https://arab.news/y5nbg
US urges Pakistan to act after American charged with blasphemy shot in court
- The US State Department asks Islamabad to 'pursue reforms that will prevent such a shameful tragedy from happening again'
- Tahir Ahmed Naseem claimed to be a 'messiah sent by God' while talking to a seminary student on internet
In Peshawar, 76-year-old artist struggles to keep near-extinct Mughal wax art alive
- Craft involves intricate process using heated wax, oil, pigments, limestone to create textured, miniature artworks
- Riaz Ahmad, who has trained his son in wax art, says he hopes to train more people to preserve traditional craft
PESHAWAR: Riaz Ahmad, 76, stirs wax in a small plastic can with a long chopstick, takes it out on the palm of his left hand and adds natural color before drawing designs on a piece of cloth.
Surrounded by several such pieces of black cloth with unique art, Ahmad strives every passing day to keep the 500-year-old, Mughal-era wax art alive at his home near the Lahori Gate in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar.
Ahmad comes from a well-known family of wax artists who were based in Shillong and Darjeeling in present-day India and had migrated to Peshawar during the 1947 partition of the sub-continent.
His work remains rooted in tradition, faithfully repeating patterns passed down through generations and winning Ahmad several awards both at home and abroad in recognition of his dedication.
“I have been making the same Mughal era designs that my forefathers used to make,” he told Arab News last week.
“I went to India in 2004, where I received the UNESCO Seal of Excellence [for Handicrafts] award... On 23 March, 2012, the Government of Pakistan awarded me the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz.”
The near-extinct traditional craft, which is believed to have originated in Central Asia and refined under the Mughal patronage, particularly in Peshawar, involves an intricate process using heated wax, linseed oil, powdered pigments, and limestone to create detailed, textured and often colorful miniature artworks by hand.
Ahmad learnt wax art from his father, Miran Bakhsh, nearly six decades ago.
“My parents used to do this work in Shillong and Darjeeling [in present-day India]. They had a shop there, and after the Partition, they migrated to Peshawar, Pakistan,” he said. “When they came here, they started doing the same work.”
A basic piece of his work costs around Rs3,000 ($10.7). A larger piece made on order can fetch between Rs5,000 and Rs15,000 ($17-$53), but such orders are rare.
“Wax and colors have become expensive. When I sell a piece for Rs3,000, around Rs1,000 goes into expenses, and Rs2,000 is my daily wage,” Ahmad said.
But the 76-year-old worries more about the future of the art form, which he insists cannot be learned quickly and requires “love and dedication.”
“Some people say they want to come, some from Karachi and some from Lahore, but it becomes difficult for me to go there or for them to come here,” he said.
Most wax artists in Peshawar have abandoned the art due to a lack of institutional support, according to Ahmad, who relies primarily on exhibitions to earn a living.
“The reason [for the decline of this art form] is that the government does not pay attention. They are caught in their own conflicts, and the culture is suffering,” Ahmad said.
“Other artists have left this art. Some are selling rice and some are driving rickshaws,” he added. “I have been doing this work inside my house. If there is any event, we go there and sell our art.”
Saad Bin Awais, a spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA), said the government has engaged artisans in several projects. He said some of these projects have come to an end while others are ongoing.
“Riaz Ahmad is the only wax artist in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the authority is serious about facilitating him,” he said, adding that the KPCTA facilitates Ahmad’s participation in exhibitions across the country to showcase his art.
“We have also been collecting data of artists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for an upcoming project to facilitate them in any way possible.”
Ahmad has trained his son, Fayyaz, in wax art who now practices it in Islamabad. The septuagenarian says he wishes to train more people to preserve the dying art form.
“I cannot leave this work,” he said. “I will continue this art even though my hands shake.”
