India’s ambassador in the UAE has reminded the diasporaliving in the Gulf country of the importance of adhering to the rule of law,saying discrimination is against “our moral fabric” as some Indiansposted “Islamophobic” comments on social media platforms, triggeringoutrage from the Arab citizens.
Ambassador of India to the UAE Pavan Kapoor quoted a tweetof Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said that COVID-19 does not see race,religion, colour, caste, creed, language or borders before striking.
“Our response and conduct thereafter should attachprimacy to unity and brotherhood. We are in this together,” Modi said inthe tweet.
The envoy in his tweet said India and the UAE share thevalue of non-discrimination on any grounds.
“Discrimination is against our moral fabric and theRule of law. Indian nationals in the UAE should always remember this,” hesaid.
His remarks on Twitter came after comments of some Indians,including that of BJP Member of Parliament for Bengaluru South Lok Sabhaconstituency Tejasvi Surya, started doing the rounds on social media, withseveral people terming them as “Islamophobic”.
The offensive comments of Indians triggered an outrage fromthe Arab nationals who took to social media to condemn and question theirremarks.
Princess Hend Al Qassimi, a member of the UAE royal family,took note of the offensive remarks and said that the UAE law applies onnationals and non-nationals in terms of hate speech.
She said last week that “anyone that is openly racistand discriminatory in the UAE will be fined and made to leave thecountry”.
The screenshot of BJP MP Surya’s now-deleted tweet wasshared multiple times on Twitter with people condemning the leader for his”Islamophobic” remarks on Arab women.
Recently, a prominent Indian businessman in the UAEapologised for “unintentionally hurting religious sentiments” throughhis poem, which alluded to a Muslim religious group.
Sohan Roy, founder chairman of Sharjah-based Aries Group, ina Facebook live video on Saturday, apologised for his “Islamophobic”post, The Gulf News reported.
Last week, an Indian national working in the UAE was sackedby his company for allegedly sharing Islamophobic posts on Facebook related tothe coronavirus pandemic.
Bala Krishna Nakka from Hyderabad, working as ChiefAccountant at Dubai’s Moro Hub Data Solutions Company, was sacked after hisFacebook went viral, evoking widespread condemnation.
Nakka joined a growing list of Indian expats who have landedin trouble for alleged Islamophobic social media messages in recent days.
Rakesh B Kitturmath, who worked as a team leader at EmrillServices, an integrated facilities management (FM) headquartered in Dubai, wassacked a week earlier after his post sparked an outrage on social media.
Earlier, Abu Dhabi resident Mitesh Udeshi was sacked forposting a cartoon mocking Islam on his Facebook page while a police complaintwas filed against Sameer Bhandari of Future Vision Events & Weddings’ inDubai after he asked a Muslim job seeker from India to go back to Pakistan.
The UAE outlaws all religious or racial discrimination undera legislation passed in 2015.
The anti-discrimination/anti-hatred law prohibits all actsthat stoke religious hatred and/or which insult religion through any form ofexpression, be it speech or the written word, books, pamphlets or via onlinemedia.