Three more Indians based in the UAE have either been firedor suspended from their jobs for “Islamophobic” posts on socialmedia, days after the Indian ambassador to the Gulf nation warned theexpatriates against posting such provocative updates online, a media report hassaid.
Chef Rawat Rohit, storekeeper Sachin Kinnigoli and a cashcustodian, whose identity was withheld by his employer, are the latestadditions to a list of about half a dozen Indians who have faced action fortheir social media posts, the Gulf News reported on Saturday.
“It seems that the warnings of the Indian mission havefallen on deaf ears as the list of Indian expats facing action over vile Islamophobicremarks on social media keeps getting longer,” it said.
On April 20, India’s ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor hadwarned Indian expatriates against such behaviour.
“India and UAE share the value of non-discrimination onany grounds. Discrimination is against our moral fabric and the Rule of law.Indian nationals in the UAE should always remember this,” he said in atweet.
Over the weekend, at least three more have been fired orsuspended after their offensive posts were brought to the attention ofemployers by social media users, the report said.
A spokesperson for Azadea Group that operates Eataly, achain of high-end Italian restaurants in Dubai, confirmed that Rohit had beensuspended and was facing a disciplinary probe.
Sharjah-based Pneumics Automation have also said theysuspended their storekeeper Kinnigoli until further notice.
“We have withheld his salary and told him not to cometo work. The matter is under investigation. We have a zero-tolerance policy.Anyone found guilty of insulting or showing contempt for someone’s religionwill have to bear the consequences,” the firm’s owner was quoted as sayingin the report.
Dubai-based Transguard Group said they have cracked down onan employee who had posted several anti-Islamic messages on his Facebook pageunder the name of Vishal Thakur.
“Following an internal investigation, the actualidentity of this employee was verified and he was stripped of his securitycredentials, terminated from our employment and handed over to the relevant authoritiesas per company policy. As of this statement, he is in the custody of DubaiPolice,” a Transguard spokesperson said in a statement.
The new sackings and suspensions come days after both theformer and current Indian Ambassadors to the UAE cautioned their countrymenabout the UAE’s strict hate speech laws. Similar warnings were issued bymissions in other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Last month, Sharjah-based businessman Sohan Roy had toapologise for “unintentionally hurting religious sentiments” throughhis poem, which alluded to a Muslim religious group.
In March, chef Trilok Singh was fired from a restaurant inDubai for an online threat against a student in Delhi over her views on theCitizenship Amendment Act.