By 
27-02-2024
Eleni Patlaka
Pakistan Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
In Pakistan, given the current legislation on blasphemy, as well as religious fanaticism, incidents of violence towards people who appear to be interfering with the law are particularly common. In the past, incidents of violence and public lynching before the trial had occurred (Davies, 2024).
A recent incident has re-emphasised the issue of strictness in religious matters, highlighting the need for measures to ensure the safety of citizens. Specifically, in Lahore, a woman was rescued by the police when a crowd of citizens attacked her while shouting religious slogans. The attack was based on the accusation that the woman’s clothing contained verses from the Koran, which is prohibited under Pakistani law. Although the woman was innocent, as it turned out, her clothes contained the word “Halwa”, which means beautiful (Chaudhry, 2024).
Following the incident, Manto brand launched a “women’s empowerment campaign”. In a post on social media, the company urged women to leave behind clothes with words and phrases in Urdu, out of fear for their physical integrity (Sultan, 2014).
Sources and further reading:
Chaudhry, A. (2024, February 27). “Blasphemy” situation: ASP recommended for police medal. DAWN.COM. https://www.dawn.com/news/1817349 [Accessed 27 February 2024]
Davies, C. (2024, February 26). Pakistan woman in Arabic script dress saved from mob claiming blasphemy. Www.bbc.com. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68399822 [Accessed 27 February 2024]
Sultan, A. (2024, February 27). Empower, not endanger: Why Karachi brand Manto had to tell its customers to set aside its clothes. Images Dawn. https://images.dawn.com/news/1192289/empower-not-endanger-why-karachi-brand-manto-had-to-tell-its-customers-to-set-aside-its-clothes [Accessed 27 February 2024]
Comments