AFP, LAHORE, Pakistan
A Pakistani YouTube star has been charged with blasphemy after launching a perfume named after the very law he has fallen foul of, Pakistani police said on 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.
A customer tries on non-alcoholic perfumes at a shop in Peshawar, Pakistan, earlier this month.
Photo: EPA
He said it followed a case filed against him last year, over an earlier video deemed blasphemous by Islamic experts.
His perfume publicity sparked further ire, prompting the leader of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to file a complaint late on Monday.
‘SENTIMENTS HURT’
“Our religious sentiments have been hurt,” TLP leader Haider Ali Shah Gillani said.
“There are numerous sections in the penal code, but why did he choose blasphemy-related sections to name a perfume?” Gillani added.
“This means you acknowledge the offense and are celebrating it. This is essentially an attempt to normalize such actions,” Gillani said.
A police charge sheet authenticated by a police official on Tuesday details the accusations against Butt, including for alleged blasphemy and cybercrimes.
DECADE SENTENCE?
In both cases against him, the social media personality risks up to 10 years in prison.
Butt on Sunday issued an apology video, saying that 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 a Koran. “I apologize and announce the discontinuation of this perfume.”
Butt has previously drawn a parallel with his “mentor,” slain Indian rapper Sidhu Moose Wala, who released a song titled 295 in reference to religious incitement.
In other legal troubles, Butt in January pleaded guilty 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.
