A woman participant of the Twitter campaign #‘porkinqatar’ told The Peninsula yesterday that the drive actually began after a debate that raged over speculation that an airline was serving pork in its meals.

And, then, reports trickled in that some eateries were also serving pork dishes. "The participants are now discussing if it’s the government policy to allow the import of pork, but I am sure it is not a state policy," she said.

A vast majority of Qatari people are against the sale of pork and that is reflected in the ‘popular’ campaigns on Twitter and social networking sites, she said.

She added: "There are those who are astonished... We are debating two options: one, to boycott the sale outlets; the other to distribute leaflets against the sale."

As it is, there are many restaurants that are openly selling alcohol and now there are reports of pork sale, she said.

Another Twitter campaigner, a female student of Education City, said: "Pork is forbidden in our religion. When we are overseas we respect their religious sentiments, so foreigners here must respect ours."

She added: "I want Qatari officials to impose strict control on pork and alcohol sale."

Meanwhile, social networking sites were yesterday abuzz with the talk of pork being on sale by a company. A participant posted his satirical comment saying he hoped that the meat would be sold at affordable rates so that poor non-Muslim expatriates could buy.

"We were left aghast when liquor was introduced here and within a short span of time restaurants selling it began mushrooming. And now, we hear that only non-Muslim permit holders would be allowed to buy pork but soon it might be available freely…We must boycott the company," said another participant.

Yet another commentator lauded Indian restaurants and said they are clean and sell only egg sandwiches, chapattis and dishes made of minced mutton.

A local Arabic newspaper, in the mean time, yesterday carried a funny cartoon showing two pigs. One was shown telling the other: "So you finally got the visa to enter Doha... You would now be on the dining tables with lamb, chicken and fish.“