Manama: A lawmaker has called for a strict ban on tissue boxes carrying the Bahraini flag, saying that it is "utterly disrespectful."
"Putting the Bahraini flag on a box of tissues is totally unacceptable because it demands its significance," MP Hassan Al Dossari said.
The lawmaker said that the competent authorities should assume their role and take immediate action to control products and advertisements abusing the national banner.
Al Dossari made the remarks as the lower chamber discussed ways to reinvigorate the role of a national advertisement committee.
Several MPs stressed that all advertisements in Bahrain should fully comply with the local traditions and morals and should not clash with the teachings of Islam.
MP Ali Zayed, representing Salafi society Al Asala, said that advertisements were abusing women and presenting them in an inappropriate way that clashed with the Bahraini traditions.
Legal measures should be taken against those who fail to respect the local values and morals, he said.
"The National Advertisement Committee should be reinvigorated to empower it to carry out its duties," he said.
Bahrain has had a relatively open approach towards featuring women in ads or in displaying lingerie in shop windows.
However, conservative MPs have been pushing for "stringent action against stores that display raunchy posters and advertisement to attract customers."
Jasem Al Saeedi, a Salafi MP who has been in parliament since 2002, claimed in the previous legislative term that families no longer wished to go to malls in order to avoid feeling ashamed because of the brazen posters
"There are ads and posters of men and women in their underwear or wearing almost nothing and this is in total disregard for people's feelings," Al Saeedi said. "The indecent posters should be treated like any immoral behaviour in public, warranting legal action."
"Why should those caught engaged in immoral acts in the streets be punished whereas those who openly display shocking pictures do not come under the arm of the law? They should be treated in the same way," he said.
