ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday paid a tribute to the man who risked his own life to save the Sri Lankan man, who was lynched by the mob in Sialkot on Friday on charges of blasphemy, and announced a bravery award for him.
“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, endangering his own life by physically trying to shield victim,” Khan wrote on Twitter.
Malik Adnan will be awarded the Tamgha i Shujaat – the second-highest civil award for bravery – by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the PM announced.
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 incl endangering his own life by physically trying to shield victim. We will award him Tamgha i Shujaat
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) December 5, 2021
In a footage of Friday’s gruesome attack, the man — clad in a red sweater — could be seen trying to convince the charged mob not to harm Priyantha and hand him over to the police.
In another video, he is seen attempting to save the foreigner by forming a protective shield over him and later his body, before the enraged mob burnt his body.
The remains of Diyawadanage Don Nandasiri Priyantha Kumara, who was an exports manager at the Rajco Industries, will be ferried to Colombo by Sri Lankan Airlines.
Sialkot lynching: Priyantha’s body to reach Sri Lanka on Monday, says family
Top Pakistani leaders have promised accountability as Sri Lankan leaders and Priyantha’s grieving wife, Niroshi Dasaniyake, have demanded that Islamabad ensure justice.
So far, police have arrested over 230 people in the case and filed reports against 900 workers of the garment factory, Rajco Industries, in Sialkot. Uggoki Station House Officer (SHO) Armaghan Maqt lodged the cases under several sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act.
