An angry mob in Pakistan accused a woman who wore a dress adorned with Arabic calligraphy of blasphemy, after mistaking them for Quran verses.
She was saved by police who escorted her to safety after hundreds gathered. She later gave a public apology.
The dress has the word “Halwa” printed in Arabic letters on it, meaning beautiful in Arabic.
Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan. Some people have been lynched even before their cases go on trial.
There’s a joke by a popular Pakistani comedian that goes like: "A Pakistani goes to Mecca for the first time. After getting off the plane, he sees a signboard with Arabic written on it, and starts kissing and prostrating himself in front of it. A few minutes later, an Arab dude taps him on the shoulder and says, ‘bro, that sign says bathroom’ "
This joke just played out in real life. Muslim extremists are beyond parody
Ha! I haven’t heard that one, I didn’t realise this tracked so well 😂 In fairness though you can remove “Muslim” from your last sentence and it’ll be equally accurate, we’re not that far from that kind of display in the rest of the world, it feels like.
I wish I could agree. It really feels particularly bad here (though our neighbors in India have caught up in recent years). Have lost count of how many public lynchings/murders/breakouts of mob violence have happened in recent memory. I even personally know someone who was shot and murdered by a religious extremist. A year later, when the killer was arrested, I found I knew him too - he was my brother’s batchmate in uni (a very expensive and popular business school) and had even been to my house.
I also have another friend, a feminist organiser, who got accused of blasphemy because she was standing next to an LGBT flag on stage during a women’s march. She had to go into hiding for a few months for her own safety. I know other feminist organisers who have been accused of blaphemy too, from a different city. Their march was pelted with stones by counter-protestors from an extremist madrassah.
Beyond these personal anecdotes, I recommend reading about the cases of Salman Taseer, Junaid Hafeez, and Mashal Khan.
Don’t get me wrong - conservative religious fascism is ubiquitous and bad everywhere. but dude it is straight up murderous here (and I feel much of the muslim world generally) in a way that is difficult to convey to outsiders.
I’m not trying to minimise the situation in Pakistan of course, I was making a generalised comment that religious extremism is religious extremism and isn’t exclusive to Muslims, is all.
I’m sorry things are so bad out there bud. Stay as safe as you can.
It’s alright, I didn’t perceive you to be minimising the situation. It’s just this issue touches a raw nerve for me and I felt compelled to point out how much worse it is here. Appreciate your empathy.