Man trolled for cancelling cab because driver was Muslim; we are secular, replies Ola

New Delhi: The app-based cab operator Ola on Sunday gave a thoughtful reply to a man, claiming to be associated with a right-wing outfit, who had cancelled his ride after finding the driver assigned to him was a Muslim. Abhishek Mishra, a man who claims to be linked to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), had posted on Twitter that he cancelled his Ola booking on Friday after finding that the cab driver was a Muslim. 

After cancelling the cab, Mishra took a screenshot of the cancellation and tweeted it out with a message saying that he does not want to give his money to “jihadi people”.

Cancelled @Olacabs Booking because Driver was Muslim. I don't want to give my money to Jihadi People. pic.twitter.com/1IIf4LlTZL — Abhishek Mishra (@Abhishek_Mshra) April 20, 2018

Mishra's Twitter post soon went viral and triggered a huge debate on Twitter with some siding with him and while others trolling him for inciting hatred and communal sentiments.

Interestingly, Mishra is followed on Twitter by bigwigs like Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Culture Mahesh Sharma and many others.

With his tweet creating a lot of buzz on the micro-blogging site, Ola also chipped in and tweeted a thoughtful reply to Mishra.

The cab operator put out a statement, saying that the company is a secular platform and doesn’t discriminate between its customers and driver partners.

''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 tweeted in its reply to Mishra's tweet.

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

Many who trolled Mishra, also advised him to stop buying fuel as it is imported from the Middle East and urged Ola to ban him from its platform.

However, defending himself from the flak, Mishra said, “If they (Muslims) can run a campaign against Hanuman ji poster on cab... then they must be prepared for a reply.”