
All fired up! Pakistani flag makers cash in on anti-US rage
Supporters of the religious party Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat burn a U.S. flag during a protest rally against an anti-Islam film made in the U.S. they say mocks the Prophet Mohammad, in Karachi, Pakistan September 30, 2012 (Reuters/Akhtar Soomro)
After weeks of protests in Pakistan at the cheaply made film Innocence of Muslims, flag makers are working in overdrive, churning out Stars and Stripes so they can be burnt and trampled on by irate Muslims.
“Whenever we have these demonstrations, I make 10 times as much money as normal,” Naveed Haider confessed to AFP from his seedy print shop in a rundown building in Rawalpindi, a twin city with Islamabad.
Since demonstrations exploded on to the streets a few weeks ago Naveed hasn’t had a moment’s peace. Not because of the noise and gun shots but because he can’t shift enough flags.
Sold for between US$1.25 and $16, depending on size and quality – quality is measured by how quickly it will go up in smoke – Naveed’s bank balance has hit the roof.
The boom in the flag market has accompanied a surge in anti-American feeling in Pakistan, which has been battered by a mix of Taliban violence and US drone attacks since Washington’s War on Terror kicked off in late 2001






