Islamophobic posts cost another Indian his job in the UAE

Ras Al Khaimah: An employee of a mining firm in Ras Al Khaimah has become the latest in a long line of UAE-based Indian expats to have lost their job because of Islamophobic social media posts.

Brajkishore Gupta was fired without notice for calling Indian Muslims coronavirus spreaders and hailing Delhi riots as divine justice in his Facebook posts.

Over 50 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the ensuing violence which rocked the walled city in February of this year.

Originally from Chapra, in the Indian state of Bihar, Gupta was employed by Stevin Rock, a mining company headquartered in Ras Al Khaimah.

“This isolated incident involving a junior employee was investigated and dealt with immediately resulting in the termination without notice of this person’s employment with Stevin Rock,” the company’s business development and exploration manager Jean-François Milian said in an email to Gulf News on Sunday.

“Our company policy supports the direction of the UAE Government in promoting tolerance and equality and strongly renouncing racism and discrimination and we have sent communications to all of our employees irrespective of their religious or ethnic background reminding them that any such behaviour is unacceptable and will lead to immediate dismissal,” said Milian.

Both the former and current Indian Ambassadors to the UAE have warned their countrymen about the consequences of violating the UAE’s strict hate speech laws. Similar warnings have been issued by missions in other GCC countries but they appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

Of late, several Indians have lost jobs and faced legal action for their offensive posts after being called out by other social media users.

In May alone at least three such hate mongers were fired or suspended in the UAE after many tagged their employers in their complaints, who in turn took swift punitive action.