'No Muslim staff': Chennai Police arrest bakery owner for posting offensive advertisement

A 32-year-old man, running a bakery in Chennai was arrested by the police on Sunday for alleged promotion of products using a tagline that said his firm does not employ Muslims. The man, who also sells his products online had allegedly said "Made by Jains on orders, no Muslim staff" for promotional purposes in his WhatsApp group.

'Made by Jains on orders, no Muslim staff'

A complaint was lodged against him saying the words depicted Muslims in a bad light and Mambalam police registered a case and arrested him, a release said adding a probe was on. The news came to light after the poster got viral on social media a couple of days ago. The few feet tall advertisement said, "Made by Jains on orders, no Muslim staff."

The owner of Jain Bakeries and Confectioneries had posted the advertisement on a WhatsApp group of bakery customers. He has been booked under section 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or reli­gious beliefs) and section 504 of the IPC (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace).

Last month, a BJP MLA Suresh Tiwari asked people not to buy vegetables from Muslim vendors. When asked to explain his remarks, he defended his statement saying that he was merely addressing the complaints of the people. He said a group of 10-12 people had met him when he visited the constituency and they complained that the Muslim vendors spit on vegetables in order to spread the Coronavirus.

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News agency PTI quoting BJP sources reported that its central leadership found Tiwari's remarks "highly irresponsible", and it's National President JP Nadda "pulled up" the state brass for not taking quick action. Expressing his displeasure over the comments, Nadda stated that the BJP will not "tolerate" such remarks and said party leaders should not make statements like this.

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Recently, a man was arrested in Mumbai after he allegedly refused to collect groceries he had ordered online since the delivery person was a Muslim.

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(With agency inputs)