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  • /'Secular', like country, says Ola after man cancels ride because driver is Muslim

'Secular', like country, says Ola after man cancels ride because driver is Muslim

'Secular', like country, says Ola after man cancels ride because driver is Muslim

Ola

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The man concerned, Abhishek Mishra, said he was associated with the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad. News reports said he was the VHP's Uttar Pradesh social media adviser

A Lucknow man triggered a huge debate on social media Sunday after he tweeted about cancelling his Ola cab because the driver had been Muslim.

The man concerned, Abhishek Mishra, said he was associated withthe right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad. News reports said he was the VHP's Uttar Pradesh social media adviser.

Mishra posted a screenshot of his cancellation request on Twitter, saying he did not want to give his money to "jihadi people".

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Mishra's tweet expectedly set off a firestorm on Twitter, with people accusing him of spreading hatred. Some people however came out in support of him.

The taxiaggregator issued a statement saying: ''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 time," it added.

Mishra, who describes himself as a Hindutva thinker, is reportedly followed by a number of Indian ministers, includingdefence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and culture minister Mahesh Sharma.