A woman was saved from an angry mob in Pakistan after she was accused of blasphemy due to the Arabic inscriptions in her dress, which were mistaken for verses in the Quran.
An angry mob in #Pakistan accused a woman who wore a dress adorned with Arabic calligraphy of blasphemy, after mistaking them for Qur'an verses.https://t.co/gkYvZ92nrZ
— Saudi Gazette (@Saudi_Gazette) February 27, 2024
The incident began when the woman and her husband, both of whom were not identified, were shopping at a market in Lahore, the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab when an angry mob of 300 men falsely accused her of blasphemy because she wore a dress adorned with Arabic calligraphy, which the mob mistook for verses in the Islamic holy book.
The mob cornered the woman into a restaurant, demanding she remove the dress. Videos of the incident went viral on social media, where the mob pushed the scared woman into a corner of the restaurant, hiding her face with her hand.
A man was heard in one video telling the woman to remove the garment, or they will forcefully remove it from her. In another widely shared video on social media, the woman was seen encircled by the increasingly aggressive mob, with some yelling and even demanding her execution.
A Pakistani police officer is being hailed as a hero for negotiating the safe escort of a woman accused of blasphemy by a mob in Lahore. The woman was wearing a dress with Arabic calligraphy that the crowd mistook for verses from the Quran pic.twitter.com/3uFgUXuGCg
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 26, 2024
Amidst the chaos, local police had to intervene to prevent the mob from hurting the woman and escorted her out of the restaurant while the mob protested. Authorities said they first received a call at around 1 pm local time on February 25th about the mob gathering around the woman. Multiple police teams were deployed to the scene and tried to pacify the crowd before taking the woman into protective custody.
Another video that went viral on social media showed a female police officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police Shehrbano Naqvi, trying to convince the angry mob that the woman did not commit any blasphemous acts.
"During my service, I have handled three such incidents, and you should have trust in us [police],” Miss Shehrbano was heard telling the mob in the video. The footage showed her putting an arm around the woman, who was by then covered in a black burqa and a hijab, and escorting her out of the premises.
— Zoya (@_Zoya_) February 27, 2024
Assistant Superintendent Shehrbano, praised for her bravery and was recommended by the Punjab police for the highest gallantry award for law enforcement in Pakistan, told reporters that authorities have seen a "mushrooming of incidents" similar to what happened on February 25th throughout Pakistan.
"Had I not screamed and had I not convinced the crowd that we will do something about it, It would have turned nastier… Thank God," Miss Shehrbano said.
She also added that some members of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a hardline Islamist group allegedly responsible for the lynching of Priyantha Kumara in Sialkot in December 2021, were in the crowd.
They don’t know Quranic verses?
— The Maltese Sailor (@MalteseSailor) February 27, 2024
The woman was then brought to the police station, where religious scholars confirmed that the Arabic text on her dress was calligraphy and the dress did not contain any verses from the Quran. The police also asked the scholars to record a video.
The woman also said that she had no intention to hurt anyone or commit blasphemy and added that the dress she wore is frequently worn in Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia. A local garment trader supported these claims by both religious scholars and the woman, who was able to identify the Arabic calligraphy and confirmed that the text is unrelated to the Quran.
It was then confirmed that the Arabic text printed on the woman’s dress means “halwa,” which translates to sweet or beautiful in Arabic.
In Pakistan if you’re a woman attacked by a mob of illiterate men, you must apologize to them. https://t.co/7YaffH3Buj
— Yasmine Mohammed (@YasMohammedxx) February 26, 2024
Nevertheless, the woman apologized for the incident.
"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," the woman said, adding that she is a devout Muslim and would never commit blasphemy.
