For nearly a month now, the mercury has been rising in Malaysia. Not due to the heatwave sweeping the region that has killed at least two here though, but 14 pairs of socks bearing the name of Allah.
The fact that these socks made up less than 0.1 per cent of a shipment of the low-cost footwear ordered by convenience store chain KK Mart, points to it being a stocking – no pun intended – error. Yet it has triggered calls for a boycott, the stripping of a business licence, criminal charges, at least three firebombings, and six-month jail sentences for two online commentators deemed to have insulted Islam.
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