Picture of the Day: Gruesome Billboard-Hajis Beware

Adil Najam

Here is a rather gruesome ad from the Punjab Anti-Narcotics Force, warning prospective pilgrims going for Hajj to Saudi Arabia of the dangers of drug trafficking.

The painted bill board ad makes the point, rather graphically and quite clearly that anyone caught bringing drugs into Saudi Arabia will face death. One wonders, however, if that point is being made a little more graphically than necessary.

The wording on the billboard (seemingly quite large and on an outdoor public location) says:

Don’t unknowingly invite death.
By taking someone’s else luggage or unnecessary foreign or local medications do not put your own life at risk.
Taking narcotics or addictive elements to Saudi Arabia will result in a certain death penalty.
Anti-Narcotics Force (Punjab).

How, I wonder, does a parent explain to a child who sees this billboard why the Arab-looking man is beheading the Pakistani-looking man with such gusto.

One wonders who it is that really gives Muslims a ‘bad name’? The message for the prospective drug smuggler to Saudi Arabia is quite clear. But, what is the message for the rest of us? And the rest of the world?