At least four barbers were detained in Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for styling customers' beards despite an unofficial 'ban' imposed by a local traders' union which had termed such beards "un-Islamic".
The incident in Charsadda came to light in a video widely circulated on social media this week, Dawn news reported on Thursday (3 October).
In the video, a man named Sameen, who is the president of the shopkeepers union, can be seen guiding police in the arrest of the hairdressers. He asks the hairdressers why they were shaping beards in a "stylish" manner, when there is a "ban" in place on the same.
Pakistan-based Rabwah Times which covers news related to Pakistani minorities has tweeted a video of the same.
According to Sameen, some days back the union had "banned the designing of beards" and had informed all hairdressers of the same. "Despite our decision, some shop owners were trimming the beards in stylish designs," he said in the video.
Besides the detention, the police have imposed a fine of 5,000 Pakistani rupees on each of the four barbers.
Similarly, a union of hairdressers in Peshawar had also decided to ban the shaping of customers' beards in stylish designs, terming it "against Islam".
(With inputs from IANS)