In Lahore in Pakistan, Islamic fanatics assaulted a woman because they believed she committed blasphemy by wearing a dress with Arabic calligraphy. The mob, led by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan members, thought that the colourful Arabic text on the white dress was Quranic verses, and therefore she committed blasphemy, which is punishable by death in Pakistan.
The woman was spotted wearing the dress by the fanatics while she was dining at a restaurant in Ichhra Market in Lahore. A large group of people assembled soon after, who surrounded her, and hurled abuses and threats. Some of the crowd surrounded the woman, leaving her frozen in fear, while some bystanders attempted to protect her from lynching by the bloodthirsty mob.
Woman in Lahore’s Ichra wearing a digital print shirt taken into police custody after a mob complained that the shirt had Quranic verses on it. pic.twitter.com/bVjtkuZlsP
— Naila Inayat (@nailainayat) February 25, 2024
As the situation escalated, police arrived at the scene and escorted the woman out from the spot. Videos of the incident have gone viral on social media, which show a female police officer escorting the woman, who was covered in a burqa by the cops. Reportedly, Assistant Superintendent of Police Gullberg (ASP) Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi took quick action to save the woman,
Punjab Police IG Dr. Usman Anwar praised the ASP for saving the woman, saying that the female police officer put her life in danger to rescue a woman from a violent crowd. “ASP Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi, the brave SDPO of Gulbarg Lahore, put her life in danger to rescue a woman from a violent crowd. For this heroic deed, the Punjab Police has recommended her name for the prestigious Quaid-e-Azam Police Medal (QPM), the highest gallantry award for law enforcement in Pakistan”, the IG said.
"ASP Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi, the brave SDPO of Gulbarg Lahore, put her life in danger to rescue a woman from a violent crowd. For this heroic deed, the Punjab Police has recommended her name for the prestigious Quaid-e-Azam Police Medal (QPM), the highest gallantry award for law… pic.twitter.com/awHaIGVb9l
— Punjab Police Official (@OfficialDPRPP) February 25, 2024
However, it was fund that the entire outrage was baseless, because there was no Islamic verse on the dress the woman was wearing. Those were just random Arabic words. It had words like beautiful, sweet etc in Arabic calligraphy.
ASP Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi said that they studied the dress on the dress and found that it didn’t have any Islamic verse. “It was a confusion,” she stated. Police said the woman and her husband had gone shopping when they were attacked by a mob who mistook the Arabic words on her dress as verses from the holy Quran.
Later it was revealed that the dress is from Saudi Arabian label Shalik Riyadh, which was launched during Ramazan in 2022. “The best Ramadan 2022 collection has arrived,” Shalik Riyadh had captioned while posting an image of the dress on Instagram.
On the other hand, the victim woman said that she wore the dress without knowing the content of the dress. She said that she thought the dress had just designer patterns, and didn’t know it was Arabic text. She apologised for wearing a dress with Arabic text, even though those were not religious verses.
“I didn’t have any such intention, it happened by mistake. Still I apologize for all that happened, and I’ll make sure it never happens again,” she said. The woman, who has not been identified, added, “As a Sunni Muslim, I could never think of doing any such action.”
She reiterated that she is a devoted Muslim and she will never commit any blasphemous act.
After the visuals went viral, some Pakistani netizens condemned the incident. However, some of them warned fashion labels against using such designs, as they are easily misunderstood, creating such incidents.
