A Twitter user going by the handle @ImranNoshad has posted a video on his Twitter account on December 31 about a Pakistani man threatening American carbonated behemoth Pepsi for printing a QR code with the name of Prophet Muhammad on its 7UP bottles.
In the 1.17-minute long video a man, who identifies himself as Mulla, is heard threatening a Pepsi company’s truck driver with dire consequences if the QR Code on a 7 UP bottle is not removed by the company. On enquiring, Mulla, insisted that the QR code is actually the name of Prophet Muhammad and if the company does not remove the logo he will burn the truck.
Lack of awareness. I spotted this Ashiq e Rasool he was threatening this poor truck driver on University Road and the Mob was gathering and threatening to burn the truck. The truck belongs to a well known Beverage brand I tried to explain to him that this is a QR code 1/2 pic.twitter.com/RnLS71Bf3M
— Imran Noshad Khan – عمران نوشاد خان (@ImranNoshad) December 31, 2021
The social media user tried to convince him that it is the Quick Response code (QR code), a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached, but the man seemed to be not convinced. The man was heard saying: “Yeh 7 UP ke bottle par dekhe…aap sidha kar ke dekhe..is par Muhammad ka Naam hain” (See the 7UP bottle, keep it straight and see..you can see the name of Prophet Muhammad).
The social media user recording the entire incident explained to Mulla that the logo he is talking about is actually the QR code, but Mulla maintained the QR code is the name of Prophet.
He then went on to tell the truck driver that he should ask the company authorities to remove the logo or else they will be courting a massive war…we will fight and burn the vehicle.
On enquiring, the driver who stood calmly beside the protestor informed that the truck belonged to PepsiCo. He informed me that he is the driver and the salesman of the company.
Mulla reiterated that he has asked him to appeal to the company to either remove the logo or else be ready to bear the consequences. “Do Teen din baad mein truck jala sakta hoon”, (I can burn the truck after two to three days) warned Mulla, adding: “Mein Allah ke liye kuch bhi kar sakta hoon, jaan bhi de sakta hoon” (I can do anything for Allah, give away my life too).
In his subsequent Tweet, Imran Noshad Khan (@ImranNoshad) wrote: “but later I realized that is a mob and the guy was very aggressive, they can do anything. With difficulty, I seated the driver and made him leave safely.”
When the truck driver left and I was also about to leave, he screamed and said to me that I belong to jamat-ud-Dawa, and I have also fought in Kashmir, my reach is to upper level then he remind me of “Hazar Hazar key note” He said i can do anything.
— Imran Noshad Khan – عمران نوشاد خان (@ImranNoshad) January 1, 2022
He added in another Tweet “When the truck driver left and I was also about to leave, he screamed and said to me that I belong to Jamat-ud-Dawa, and I have also fought in Kashmir, my reach is to upper level.”
Jamaat-ud-Dawah is a banned terrorist organisation founded by Lashkar-e-Taiba chief and Mumbai blast mastermind Hafiz Saeed. The LeT, led by JuD chief Saeed, is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans. Saeed, an UN-designated terrorist whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, was arrested on July 17 last year in the terror financing cases. The 70-year-old JuD chief is lodged at Lahore’s high-security Kot Lakhpat jail.
Pakistan has suffered widespread communal violence and riots over perceived blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad. An unfavourable reference to Prophet Muhammad, or what is referred to as ‘Blasphemy,’ is frequently used by Islamists as a rallying cry to release their primal impulse of committing heinous acts of violence and communal rioting against ‘non-believers.’ There have been myriad reports of violence and barbarity committed against non-Muslims in the name of blasphemy and desecration of Prophet Muhammad.
