Ride-hailing company Ola on Sunday said it was “secular” and “urged” a customer not to discriminate after he started a Twitter firestorm by posting that he had cancelled his cab because the driver was a Muslim.
The company was responding to Abhishek Mishra, whose verified Twitter account says “Vishwa Hindu Parishad” and that he is a digital and social media advisor. His Facebook profile, which is linked to his Twitter account, says that he works in Lucknow and has “responsibility” of Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s IT cell.
“Cancelled @Olacabs Booking because Driver was Muslim. I don’t want to give my money to Jihadi People,” said Mishra in a Tweet on Friday. He attached a screenshot of his Ola booking which named the cab driver.
At last count his post had been retweeted 545 times and ‘liked’ 895 times with nearly 2,000 comments. Ola responded to Mishra’s tweet after people demanded that the company block his account.
“Ola, like our country, is a secular platform, and we don’t discriminate our driver partners or customers basis their caste, religion, gender or creed. We urge all our customers and driver partners to treat each other with respect at all times,” it said.
Ola, like our country, is a secular platform, and we don’t discriminate our driver partners or customers basis their caste, religion, gender or creed. We urge all our customers and driver partners to treat each other with respect at all times.
— Ola (@Olacabs)April 22, 2018
Mishra’s account was also reported to Twitter. However, on Sunday evening, he posted a screenshot of a mail sent to him allegedly by the micro-blogging site, saying the content of the tweet did not violate Twitter’s terms.
Thanks to @Twitter and it’s a tight slap on the faces those trying to suspend my account. pic.twitter.com/WSn2QK0Gp6
— Abhishek Mishra (@Abhishek_Mshra)April 22, 2018
Several people supported Mishra, saying on Twitter that he had the right to his views.
As the controversy picked up, Mishra said on Twitter that he had a right to choose. In another tweet he referred to the alleged defaming of Hindu gods during protests over the Kathua rape and murder. He also spoke about a “campaign” against a poster of Hindu god Hanuman – an artwork that has been written about in news websites recently.
Hindustan Times has reached out to Mishra for his comment.
Source: HindustanTimes