| GEO Pakistan | | Facebook fuels American flag business in Pakistan | Updated at: 0534 PST, Wednesday, May 26, 2010
 KARACHI: In Pakistan a row about Facebook, censorship and religious sacrilege means booming demand for replica American and Israeli flags to go up in flames at protest rallies.
That means one thing for 31-year-old Mamoon ur Rasheed -- business -- and he is working long into the night to churn out the paraphernalia beloved of Islamic activists taking to the streets.
"I have nothing to do with any political party, but it is really enjoyable when you see your work on TV screens," a laughing Rasheed told media.
"I'm busy every day making banners and placards for different religious and political parties, but work gets a boost -- especially when international controversy concerning Muslims breaks out," he said.
When a Facebook user decided to organise an "Everyone Draw Mohammed Day" competition to promote "freedom of expression", it sparked a major backlash among Islamic activists in the South Asian country of 170 million.
Islam strictly prohibits the depiction of any prophet as blasphemous and the row sparked comparison with protests across the Muslim world over the publication of satirical cartoons of Mohammed in European newspapers in 2006.
Several thousand Pakistanis have taken to the streets at the behest of right-wing religious groups, who turn to Rasheed when they need flags to burn and banners to write.
"Generally, we receive orders for banners for a couple of demonstrations a day, but due to the blasphemous drawings issue, the number of orders for flags and banners has increased by 10 to 12 per day," said Rasheed.
"Flags are made for burning. They symbolise what our clients want to express and we are paid for it, so I'm happy to see our work go up in flames."
Rasheed owns a workshop where he employs four craftsmen to paint flags and write calligraphy, and a small printing press.
"We have received continuous orders for American and Israeli flags. Normally we paint them but when demand surges into the hundreds we print these flags to get them to our clients in time," he said.
In the wake of the Prophet Mohammed controversy, Pakistan blocked hundreds of web pages to limit access to "blasphemous" material, banning access to US-based Facebook and YouTube -- the two most popular websites in the country.
A court in the eastern city of Lahore ordered the block on Facebook until at least May 31, when it is scheduled to hear a petition from Islamic lawyers. |  |
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