Muslims burn piles of Pampers nappies and call for a ban because cartoon cat’s whiskers printed on them ‘look like the Arabic spelling of Mohammed’

Meowhamed the cat rules OK! From the Daily Mail

Muslim protests in India are calling for a boycott of Pampers products after claiming to have seen the word ‘Mohammed’ in the face of a cartoon cat which appears on its nappies. The lines illustrating the whiskers, nose, mouth and left eye of the smiley feline allegedly bear a close resemblance to the Prophet’s name when written in Arabic or Urdu.

The image on the hygiene product has been branded an ‘insult’ to Islam by critics, and protesters have staged ‘Pampers burnings’. 

Activists from the Islamic group Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat yesterday lodged a formal complaint about the nappies at Dabeerpura Police Station in Hyderabad, reports the Deccan Chronicle.

In a letter to police, the group said Pampers – owned by US multinational Procter & Gamble – had ‘hurt the feelings’ of the Muslim community and called for the products to be taken off the shelves immediately. It stated: ‘Even with (the) bare eye it is been identified that the name of Prophet (PBUH) can be seen printed on it in Urdu/Arabic.’ 

The Prophet Mohammed, it added, was a ‘holy personality in Islam’ and the ‘disrespect cannot be tolerated’. The letter went on to say: ‘Arrest them and punish them.’

Azam Shariff said: ‘Maybe it’s the fault of the creative team but whatever the case is, directly or indirectly, it’s manifesting the name of (our) holy Prophet. That is a sheer desecration, it’s insulting. Don’t use the products until they change this, until they apologise.’

Procter & Gamble has been approached for comment.