Swedish skier lands up in police station

Shabir Dar
Srinagar, Feb 07: The faith of his Muslim wife, who suggested a Swedish skier to get verses of the holy Quran inscribed on his skiing gear to avoid accidents, landed him up in a police station.
Noticing Quranic verses inscribed on the skiing gear of M Patrick, a Swedish Jew, few people at Gulmarg skiing resort at 3:30 pm took objection to it, caught hold of the skier and handed him over to police.
The matter did not end there. The news of Quranic verses inscribed on the foreign tourist’s ski gear spread like a wild fire triggering a massive protest.

People protested against the tourist and his country. Raising anti-Israel and anti-Swedish slogans, the protestors demanded stern action against the tourist.
“We were astonished to see Quranic verses on the tourist’s skies. We caught him along with his ski gear and handed him over to police,” a group of employees of Gulmarg Cable Car Corporation told Rising Kashmir.
“Government should ban such tourists to visit Kashmir,” a protestor said.
Conforming the news Police said it was the Swedish Skier’s Iranian wife who works with her husband in Qatar who had suggested him to inscribe it on the ski gear out of faith.
Station House Officer Gulmarg Police Station, Muhammad Abdullah said: “The tourist says that his Muslim wife had advised him to inscribe Quranic verses on the ski gears to be safe during skiing.”
The SHO said police is investigating the “sensitive matter”.
Protests continued in Gulmarg till late evening.
Police had to keep the tourist in their custody to keep him away from harm’s way.
“He (tourist) is still with us. We will see if we can release him in the morning or not,” the SHO said.