LAHORE: A Pakistani YouTube star has been charged with blasphemy after launching a perfume named after the very law he has fallen foul of, police said Tuesday.
Rajab Butt has one of the largest online followings in the Muslim-majority country and has been embroiled in controversy for years, including over his brief custody of a lion cub.
In a recent video, since deleted from his social media accounts, Butt launched his “295” perfume which refers to blasphemy legislation in the penal code.
He said it followed a case filed against him last year, over an earlier video that was deemed blasphemous.
His perfume publicity sparked further ire, prompting the leader of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to file a complaint late Monday.
“Our religious sentiments have been hurt,” said TLP leader Haider Ali Shah Gillani, whose party puts blasphemy as its central concern.
“There are numerous sections in the penal code but why did he choose blasphemy-related sections to name a perfume?,” he told AFP.
“This means you acknowledge the offense and are celebrating it. This is essentially an attempt to normalize such actions,” he said.
A police charge sheet seen by AFP and authenticated by a police official on Tuesday details the accusations against Butt, including blasphemy and cybercrime.
Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Pakistan, where even unsubstantiated accusations can incite public outrage and lead to lynchings.
In both cases against him, the social media personality risks up to 10 years in prison.
Butt issued an apology video on Sunday, asserting he is not against the country’s blasphemy laws.
“I apologize for the words I uttered during the launch of the perfume,” he said while holding the Holy Qur’an.
“I apologize and announce the discontinuation of this perfume,” he added.
Butt has previously drawn a parallel with his “mentor,” the slain Indian rapper Sidhu Moose Wala, who released a song titled “295” in reference to religious incitement.
In other legal troubles, Butt pleaded guilty in January to owning an undocumented wild animal after accepting a lion cub as a wedding gift.
He avoided jail by promising a judge to post animal rights videos for a year.
Pakistani YouTube star charged with blasphemy over perfume
https://arab.news/bth7f
Pakistani YouTube star charged with blasphemy over perfume
- Rajab Butt has one of the largest online followings in the Muslim-majority country and has been embroiled in controversy for years
- In a recent video, since deleted from social media accounts, Butt launched his ‘295’ perfume which refers to blasphemy legislation
Pakistan army hits Afghan Taliban drone storage facility, ammunition depot in Jalalabad
- Around 435 Afghan Taliban fighters killed, over 630 injured in Pakistani military offensive, minister says
- Several countries, global bodies have urged both sides to exercise restraint since the conflict began last week
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army struck a drone storage facility and ammunition depot of Afghan Taliban in Jalalabad, a Pakistani security official said on Monday, following Pakistani strikes on more than 50 locations in Afghanistan amid ongoing hostilities between the neighbors.
Pakistan launched Operation ‘Ghazb lil Haq’ against Afghanistan on the night of Feb. 26 following an attack by Afghanistan on Pakistani military installations along their shared border.
The worst fighting between the two neighbors in years erupted after Pakistani airstrikes targeted what Islamabad called militant hideouts inside Afghanistan on Feb. 21-22, accusing Kabul of harboring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants behind the attacks on its soil. Afghanistan denies the charge.
A Pakistani security official, who requested anonymity, said the army was continuing “strong retaliatory action” against the Afghan Taliban and blew up multiple border posts, forcing them to abandon their positions.
“Pakistan forces are effectively targeting the bases and military installations of the Fitna Al-Khawarij and the Afghan Taliban,” he said.
“During the effective counter-operation of the Pakistani forces, the ammunition depot and drone storage site of Fitna Al-Khawarij (TTP) and the Afghan Taliban in Jalalabad was destroyed.”
Separately, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said more than 400 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed and over 630 wounded in the Pakistani military offensive so far.
Pakistan destroyed around 188 check posts and captured 31, according to a post on X by Tarar. Over 180 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns were also destroyed in Pakistani air raids at 51 locations across Afghanistan.
On Sunday, Pakistani state media shared a video of what it said were Pakistani soldiers crossing into Afghanistan in the northwest to capture an Afghan post. Pakistan has seized a 32-square-kilometer area of Afghanistan, another Pakistani security official said.
Afghan officials earlier said that dozens of Pakistani soldiers had been killed and several Pakistan posts had been captured by their forces. None of the casualty figures or battlefield claims from either side could be independently verified.
Since the conflict began last week, diplomatic efforts have intensified, with several countries and international bodies calling on both sides to exercise restraint.
The United Nations, along with China and Russia, has called for calm, while US President Donald Trump said Pakistan has the right to defend itself against cross-border militancy.
