KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – A Molotov cocktail was thrown at a Malaysian convenience store on Saturday, police said, after the chain’s top executives were accused of offending religious sentiments for selling socks with the word “Allah” printed on them above.
Photos of socks on sale at a KK Supermart store sparked outrage on social media among Muslims who considered the association of Allah – the Arabic word for God – with feet offensive.
Religion is a sensitive issue in Malaysia, where two-thirds of the 34 million inhabitants are mainly made up of ethnic Muslim Malays, with large Chinese and Indian ethnic minorities.
KK Supermart founder and chairman Chai Kee Kan and his wife Loh Siew Mui, the company’s director, were charged on Tuesday with hurting religious feelings, along with three representatives of his supplier, the news agency reported Bernama State Highway. All have pleaded not guilty.
A KK Supermart outlet in Kuantan district in the eastern state of Pahang was hit by a Molotov cocktail just before dawn on Saturday, Kuantan police chief Wan Mohamad Zahari Wan Busu told Reuters by phone.
It was the second such attack after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at another KK Supermart outlet in Perak state on Tuesday, Bernama reported.
Police have not yet identified a suspect in Saturday’s attack but are combing the area and checking closed-circuit television recordings for evidence, Wan Mohamad Zahari said.
He said police believe the attack was related to the sale of the socks, “but we are still investigating.”
The attack caused some items in the store to catch fire, but the fire was quickly put out by store workers, according to media reports.
KK Supermart, the country’s second-largest convenience store chain, apologized for the socks, saying it took the matter seriously and had taken immediate action to block their sale.
It also sued the supplier of the socks, accusing it of sabotage and damaging the brand’s reputation.