Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday announced that a medal of bravery will be conferred on a man who tried to save the Sri Lankan factory manager from a mob by risking his own life in Sialkot.
The CCTV footage showed a man, identified as the production manager Malik Adnan, confronting a group of angry men all by himself and making desperate attempts to avert the flare-up and then trying to shield Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana from the mob in a Sialkot factory. The mob later overpowered Adnan and dragged the Sri Lankan out on the road and tortured him with kicks, stones and iron rods, killing him on the spot.
The mob had then set the body on fire over allegations of blasphemy.
"On behalf of the nation I want to salute moral courage & bravery of Malik Adnan who tried his utmost to shelter & save Priyantha Diyawadana from the vigilante mob in Sialkot including endangering his own life by physically trying to shield victim," Khan tweeted. "We will award him Tamgha-i-Shujaat,” he further added.
On Saturday, Khan spoke to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to convey the nation's "anger and shame" to the brutal killing. "Spoke to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today in UAE to convey our nation's anger & shame to people of Sri Lanka at the vigilante killing of Priyantha Diyawadana in Sialkot," the premier had tweeted.
