- Over a decade, Shezan, one of Pakistan’s foremost soft-drink manufacturers, is being banned and boycotted in various parts of the Asian nation since it is from a company owned by Ahmadi.
- The boycott of Shezan drink is mere discrimination on the basis of faith.
- The Ahmadis, a revivalist Islamic movement founded in the 19th Century by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, have long faced persecution in Pakistan and the wider region.
- They were declared non-Muslims by the Pakistani parliament in 1974 when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the Prime Minister.
- In May 2010, more than 85 Ahmadis were killed in bomb attacks on two Lahore mosques.
- On 25 July 2023, the minarets of a worship place of the minority Ahmadi community were destroyed by unknown men.
In a deeply fundamentalist Pakistan, even colas and soft drinks have a religion. And, if one does not conform to the dominant form of Islam, these, otherwise innocuous and thirst-quenching, beverages too have to bear the brunt of extremist Islamist fanatics.
In an interesting, as well as disturbing video, that has emerged from Pakistan, a soft drink was penalized for being owned by a minority Ahmadi community. Over a decade, Shezan, one of Pakistan’s foremost soft-drink manufacturers, is being banned and boycotted in various parts of the Asian nation since it is from a company owned by an Ahmadi.
The boycott of Shezan drink is mere discrimination on the basis of faith.
Shezan, a company founded in 1964, makes juices, soft drinks, syrups, squashes, jams, sauces, ketchup, chutneys, and pickles, including a popular mango-flavored juice which is Children’s favorite in Pakistani children.
Campaigns against Shezan are frequent with extremists targeting independent shops who stock the goods and company delivery vans and their drivers in Peshawar.
The Ahmadis, a revivalist Islamic movement founded in the 19th Century by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, have long faced persecution in Pakistan and the wider region. They were declared non-Muslims by the Pakistani parliament in 1974 when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the Prime Minister.
In May 2010, more than 85 Ahmadis were killed in bomb attacks on two Lahore mosques.
On 25 July 2023, the minarets of a worship place of the minority Ahmadi community were destroyed by unknown men in Pakistan’s Sindh province, and “hateful” graffiti was drawn on its walls.
(With inputs from agencies)
