This is a result of a new aggressive strain of the Barelwi sect that is under the influence of hardcore preachers like Hanif Qureshi, Khadim Rizvi and others in the Punjab, and of course the Sunni Tehrik which is strongest in Karachi. This aggressive camp of Barelwis highly emphasizes the concept of Ishq (passionate love and devotion) of the Prophet ﷺ and the concept of Ghaira to defend his person from his enemies. So for them, to murder anyone that has shown even the slightest disrespect to the Prophet ﷺ is an heroic deed that is praiseworthy and honorable. Now of course, there is some basis for defense of the honor of the Prophet ﷺ and all Muslims ideally should love the Prophet ﷺ more than even their parents, spouse and children. This is why many non-Muslims are baffled at the strong emotional response of Muslims when our Prophet ﷺ is attacked. That is because the secular world no longer understands what Ishq is. Their hearts do not know what true Ishq is, at most they can experience lust or some low level form of love for their close family members, but apart from that they are very cold blooded and are genuinely puzzled as to why Muslim feelings are deeply hurt whenever our Prophet ﷺ is attacked. So there is a huge disconnect there. However, most Muslims will agree with me that murdering a fellow Muslim because of theological differences over issues such as Nur and Bashar, Hadir and Nadir, and the like, is going to the extreme and not at all acceptable in our Faith. If a Tablighi Jama’at person said that he doesn’t believe the Prophet is literally made from the substance of Light but is a mortal human being – in fact majority of us Muslims believe this – you as a Barelwi cannot say that he is blaspheming and insulting the Prophet ﷺ, because insulting must have intent behind it. Otherwise do you sincerely think this member of Tablighi Jama’at, a sect devoted to preaching Islam, literally intended to insult the Prophet ﷺ that he deserved to be murdered in the middle of the night in a Mosque of all places?
But at the other extreme are the ‘secularists’ and ‘liberals’ who want to do away with the law altogether which prescribes strict punishment for those found guilty of defiling Islam, the Prophet ﷺ and the Holy Quraan. For them, it is less bearable to be embarrassed that Pakistan is known as a ‘backwards’ and ‘fanatic’ country with such laws than to bear an attack on the person of our beloved and holy Prophet ﷺ. So obviously such liberals and secularists are Munafiqeen who have no attachment to Islam. In fact I know that today many of the elite Pakistanis have more concern for Pakistan than for Islam, and more concern for the geopolitical interests of Pakistan than the Muslim Umma.