Local man accuses popular soft drink company of blasphemy. He also claimed that he will set the company’s trucks on fire if they do not take action against their alleged “blasphemous content.”
To clarify, a video of a man accusing 7up of blasphemy surfaced on Youtube. According to the video, the company’s truck arrived to deliver the shipment of the drinks. However, an argument broke out between the salesman and the man as he claimed that the company used Prophet Muhammad’s name. He pointed to the QR code on the bottle of the soft drink and said it has “Muhammad” written on it.
Read more: Opinion: Is Pakistan’s blasphemy law a result of the ulema-state alliance?
He was repeatedly told that what he is referring to is the QR code which is made of indecipherable patterns. However, the man refused to listen. He said that he wants to appeal to the company to remove the mark, otherwise, there will be “war” and the company trucks will be set on fire.
“I have told the salesman to send in a request to the company. Otherwise, after 2-3 days, I can set any car on fire,” the man threatened.
“I can do anything for Allah, can even sacrifice my life. Why have they written my Prophet’s name?” the man further claimed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Hmubw7Ovk
Important to note, this is rather alarming as accusations of blasphemy often lead to extreme and horrific measures. Recently, a mob in Sialkot lynched a Sri Lankan factory manager over accusations of blasphemy.
Sialkot incident
In December 2021, an angry mob accused a Sri Lankan factory manager, Priyantha Diyawadana, of blasphemy by allegedly tearing up posters containing holy verses. As a result, they beat him to death. Later they burned his body.
Videos of the incident went viral on social media and left the entire nation horrified and shocked. Authorities immediately came into action to arrest those responsible for the horrible incident in Sialkot.
This was not the first incident of mob violence against alleged suspects of blasphemy. Several incidents of a violent mob beating the suspects to death have been reported in various cities of Pakistan.
Read more: It is high time we fixed mob taking over Pakistan! – Maleeha Hashmey