Nazar battu

For instance, a black mark (kaala teeka in Hindi-Urdu, tor khaal in Pushto) might be made on the face or neck of a loved one.

[4] Amulets – some resembling the Turkish nazar boncuğu and others which are threads, sometimes with a taveez attached (a small cylinder that contains a prayer verse) – are common in the region.

Some nazar battu amulets are region specific, for instance silver-mounted leopard nails which are used in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh state.

[6] In North India and Pakistan, the term nazar battu can be used idiomatically in a satiric sense to allude to people or objects which are undesirable but must be tolerated.

For instance, when it appeared that former military ruler Pervez Musharraf would insist on being accommodated institutionally as Pakistan made the transition to democracy with the 2008 general election, some press commentators alluded to him as the nazar battu of Pakistan's democracy.