Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana, the general manager of a Pakistani garment factory at Sialkot, was brutally beaten up and set alight by a mob in Pakistan. He is a Production Engineer who graduated from the University of Peradeniya, my alma mater. This horrific turnout of events shattered a lovely family, and my thoughts are with them. It also is a stain on Pakistans reputation. Background

Priyantha was a strict, honest and hardworking individual. These qualities helped him succeed in this professional life but made him unpopular among some workers.

According to reports, Priyantha took down some posters featuring religious content for renovation. The unhappy workers and supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) use this as an opportunity to carry out this heinous crime and credit it to blasphemy.

The result was the death of a great engineer who contributed to Pakistans economy, a loving father and a husband over a paint job.

Systematic Problem

Extremism in general and blasphemy, in particular, is a systematic problem in Pakistan among many other countries. I have noticed many individuals, including a challenged Downs Syndrome patient, being beaten up, executed by a mob and sometimes prosecuted by law.

There is no question that Pakistan has an issue with extremism. It has a significant population with a tribal mentality. The world's youngest Nobel Peace Price laureate Malala Yousafzai was shot in the face for her advocacy in human rights, particularly in education for women and children in the Swat Valley, Pakistan.

The situation is getting worst because authorities are letting extremism go rampant.

Islamic Extremism

The roots of the problem date back to 1979, when Islamic religious extremists invaded the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Instead of eliminating the problem, the Saudi dynasty embraced extremism. This extreme move was likely to address the religious pressure exerted by Iran following the Islamic Revolution in 1978.

Once Saudi Arabia fell into religious extremism, it created ripple effects across the globe. The need to exert influence over Islam and the region both Saudi Arabia and Iran exported extremism. This tug war brought us to the concerning present, where a building renovation could trigger an unstable population to drag a human being to the road, mercilessly beat and burn his body.

Instead of exterminating extremist terrorists, politics used the momentum to their benefit. The same is true in Pakistan. There are reports of the ISI (the Pakistani intelligence agency) in bed with terrorists and could use them against India.

A Wake-up Call

This tragic incident is an important wake-up call for Pakistan. How the Imran Khan government responded to the issue is commendable and professional. The perpetrators have been arrested, charged and presented to the court in a few days.

Can the same be said about Sri Lanka?

In 2011 Khuram Shaikh Zaman, a Red Cross worker who was fitting prosthetic limbs in Gaza was brutally killed by a local council leader in a resort in Thangalla on Christmas day. It took two years and immense diplomatic pressure from the British government to start the trial against the perpetrator.

In 2014 Buddhist mobs attacked Muslims, their homes and their property in Aluthgama, Beruwala, Dharga Town. These riots killed four people and displaced 20,000 others. How did the government respond? Instead of arresting, the government urged the media not to publish news about the incident resulting virtual blackout.

The situation in India, Bangladesh and so on is not that different. Governments use and nurture extremism for their political gains.

I love Sri Lanka, but the lack of credibility and justice is why I plan to leave the region.

Conclusion

The world is deteriorating, and the brutal murder of Priyantha in Sialkot, Pakistan, is not the first and will not be the last. Governments must exercise law to the letter. Ignoring uncivilized activity for short term political gain will harm society in the long term.

Unfortunately, the region is in the mentality that their extremists are a necessary evil. While petty politics would lose out, society will gain from addressing systematic extremism.

The brutal murder of Priyantha is an excellent place to start. The world is watching you, Pakistan.