The owner of "Jain Bakeries and Confectioneries" located at Parthasarathi Puram in the T Nagar area in Chennai was arrested for an Islamophobic advertisement which he allegedly posted on WhatsApp. The advertisement read, "Made by Jains on orders, No Muslim staff".
According to the police, 32-year-old Prashant, owner of the Jain Bakeries and Confectioneries sold his products online. In a Whatapp message, he had said: "Made by Jains on orders, no Muslim staffs".
Police sources told NDTV that a case of malicious intention to outrage religious feelings and intent to breach peace has been registered against the bakery owner and further investigations are on.
The advertisement went viral on social media. Most on Twitter criticized the bakery owner for his Islamophobic advertisement. However, there wers some who sided with him.
Vineet Vats Tyagi, who according to his Twitter bio is a State Secretary & Media Incharge, Yuva Morcha, BJP Delhi said that the criticism was selective secularism.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote, "If a government or a private organisation bring something exclusively for Muslims, it is secular but if a common man, concerned of his safety due to very much valid reasons, want to hire non-muslims only, it is communal and he gets arrested for that.Why this selective secularism?"
IAS Sanjay Dixit called the arrest "height of absurdity and appeasement". He said, "This is the height of absurdity and appeasement. When did Islamophobia become an offence under IPC? Anyone is entitled to feel scared of any danger he perceives around us. Jains themselves are a minority much smaller than Muslims. This amounts to minority persecution of Jains."
