The public praises the brave ASP Shehrbano Naqvi for her heroism in rescuing a woman from a violent crowd attempting to accuse her of blasphemy.
This past Sunday, yet another disappointing incident of violence unfolded at Ichra Bazar in Lahore. A woman, whose identity remains undisclosed, was accused by an angry mob of wearing a blasphemous dress. The mob accused the woman of blasphemy after misinterpreting the Arabic writing of the word ‘Halwa’ – an Arabic brand – on her clothes as Quranic verses.
The mob, including other clients and bystanders, hurled obscenities and harassed the woman to remove the garment. Reportedly, the store owners stood up for the woman until the police arrived. Videos surfacing online showed the valiant ASP Shehrbano Naqvi, the Assistant Superintendent of Police Gulberg, addressing the angered mob, urging them to trust the police to handle the matter. She then carefully escorted the woman to a safer place in protective custody, escaping a grave accusation of blasphemy, one that in the past has led to many public lynchings in our country. “During my service, I have handled three such incidents, and you should have trust in us [police],” she can be heard telling the mob in the clip.
The Punjab Police shared shared a video of the incident, lauding the official who was present at the spot and who tried to contain the situation peacefully while also successfully protecting the victim. “ASP Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi, the brave SDPO of Gulberg 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.”
The Brand’s Response
The woman in the video was wearing clothes similar to the ones sold by Kuwait-based brand Semplicita.
The Kuwaiti brand posted a statement on an Instagram story: “Dear Pakistani people, we have nothing to do with the recent incident that happened to the innocent girl. We are based in Kuwait and we do NOT ship worldwide. Please stop following and messaging since it’s really disturbing. We use Arabic words and letters in different fonts everywhere since it’s our language!”
An Empathetic Human & An Animal Lover
As A Nation, Our Focus Should Be On Education
A Brave Young Lady
Our Ignorance Is Mighty Harsh & Irresponsible
No Knowledge Of The World Or Religion
Blasphemy Laws In Pakistan
Pakistan’s constitution has one of the strictest laws against blasphemy – punishable by death. But, although no case has yet lead to a judicial execution, over 70 people have been lynched by angry mobs in the streets because they have been accused of blasphemy.
Although no executions have ever taken place, extrajudicial killings related to blasphemy have occurred in Pakistan. Since 1990, more than 70 people have been murdered by mobs and vigilantes over allegations of insulting Islam.
Blasphemy is no doubt, a very, very serious crime, but so is taking an innocent life. While our jails are full of people who have been accused of blasphemy (1500 or more), our graves are also full of untried human beings who died a pathetic death because, powerful rhetoric swayed them to take the law of the land into their own hands.
The Punjab police has, since the incident and the outpouring praise by the public, nominated ASP Shehrbano Naqvi for the Quaid-e-Azam police medal. Punjab IG Dr Usman Anwar’s statement on the Punjab Police’s official account on X (formerly Twitter) says, “ASP Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi, the brave SDPO of [Gulberg] 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.”
This is a developing story, although there are people on X posting about prior alleged actions of the ASP, we will refrain from commenting on the story and stick to the present event, which we have verified from Dawn.
Source: Dawn
