VHP man cancelled cab as driver was Muslim

Taking immediate note of a cancellation on basis of religion by a rider, cab aggregator Ola has said that it will take a prompt action against the passenger.

Abhishek Mishra, who claims to be part of right-wing VHP on his Twitter, had posted a screenshot of his cancellation on the microblogging site stating, "Cancelled @Olacabs Booking because Driver was Muslim. I don't want to give my money to Jihadi People (sic)."

The tweet by Mishra went viral with about 500 retweets and over 800 likes.

However, according to a senior official in Ola, the company has decided to take a strict action against the user.

"The company does not subscribe to the views of individuals who want to create disharmony by using our platform," Ola spokesperson told DH.

Many on social media — both Twitter and Facebook — called upon authorities of both the platforms to ban Mishra for his "hate speech".

Although Twitter, has not taken any action on the user yet, Ola in its reply to the rider said, "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."

Mishra, who has a verified handle, is followed by Narendra Modi's Cabinet ministers, including Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, on Twitter.