By Sangeen Bacha
On Thursday 13 April 2017, an ideological worker of Pakhtun Students Federation (PSF) Mashal Khan was brutally killed, he was accused of blasphemy. The charges against him were totally baseless and fabricated; there is no proof of any such blasphemous remarks by Mashal Khan. Mashal had a civil engineering degree from abroad and was influenced by the ideas of Marxism, on the basis of which he was an active political worker. The posters and slogans of Karl Marx and Che Guevera can be seen in his hostel cubical. He was a revolutionary poet. He was involved in a political struggle against the corruption of Abdul Wali Khan University administration and as well as also started to interconnect students of Pakhtun Students Federation on the theoretical basis. In interviews to different TV Channels, he indicated that the administration is involved in corruption and on the other hand the access to education of poor students is shrinking. In addition, there is no strong organisation in Abdul Wali Khan University other than Pakhtun Students Federation. There is also staff from Awami National Party workers in the administration. University administration was troubled by Mashal Khan’s struggle, the campus leaders of PSF were reprimanded by administration several times that an organisation cannot control even a single person? In society, there is a general political alienation, and it also has impacts on the PSF. Abdul Wali Khan University administration and the leaders of PSF had joined their hands together against Mashal Khan, because they did not want an ideological worker to proceed to the top leadership of the organisation. Mashal had always raised his voice against corrupt people in politics; he stood for the rights of students and challenged capitalism. Recently, Mashal had filed a case in the court against university administration, and they wanted him to be removed from their way. Mashal had received threats from several days, on Thursday when he was in the hostel, he came to knew that he is going to be attacked, and he took refuge hiding somewhere in the hostel, he also switched off his mobile. Despite the police presence on campus, Mashal was extracted from hostel cubical, he was shot and then mercilessly stoned to death. He was attacked and lynched by the reactionary and extremist mob under the patronage of PSF’s reactionary leadership.
PSF students’ black armband tied protest march in Peshawar University
The ideological workers of Peshawar University had said that it is an attack on Bacha Khan’s ideology. On the one hand if the party leadership has warned the students to not to raise any voice or organise any agitation against this brutal attack, on the other hand the ideological worker of Pakhtun Students Federation had made it very clear very that any organization or individual who do not raise voice against this brutality shall not have any right to relate themselves with Bacha Khan or his Ideology. On April 14 a protest was organised in front of Peshawar Press Club and made demands from the government to arrest the murderers of Mashal Khan soon. Mashal Khan was attacked to stop his political struggle. But they didn’t know that by killing dignitaries their ideas cannot be killed. Mashal’s struggle will continue until the end of capitalism, which has brought the humanity on the threshold of barbarism.
