#Sialkot lynching: Malik Adnan dedicates award to Priyantha & people of Sri Lanka

COLOMBO (News 1st); The recipient of the 'Tamgha e Shujaat' Medal of Bravery from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Malik Adnan on Monday (06) said that he dedicated the award and certificate given to him by the Prime Minister to Priyantha Kumara and the people of Sri Lanka.

Adnan showed much courage while making an effort to save Sri Lanka citizen Priyantha Kumara during a mob attack in a sports factory in Sialkot last Friday.

Kumara was beaten to death and his body burned by a mob in Sialkot, a city in Pakistan's northeastern Punjab province, on Friday.

Videos circulating on social media showed Adnan physically shielding the Sri Lankan in an attempt to save him from the vigilante mob.

He, however, had to give in as the mob comprising hundreds of charged protesters overpowered 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 incl endangering his own life by physically trying to shield victim. We will award him Tamgha e Shujaat," Khan wrote on Twitter.

Adnan, accepting the award and speaking to Pakistani media stated that one should always stand with the oppressed and Prophet Muhammad also advised to do so. 

Speaking further, he said that Kumara was a good human being, friend, and a commendable manager, and media, teachers and conscious citizens should guide people so that such incidents were not repeated in future.