People are boycotting MakeMyTrip after its co-founder criticised the Centre’s beef politics
The company, in an official statement later distanced itself from its co-founder’s views, and said he no longer works with them.
People are still uninstalling MakeMyTrip and boycotting its website, two days after its co-founder Keyur Joshi apologised for saying on Twitter that he would eat beef in defiance of the Centre’s ban on sale of cattle for slaughter. Joshi had on Wednesday found himself facing severe criticism for his comments.
#BoycottMMT and #BoycottMMT trended on Twitter after Joshi tweeted that though he was a strong supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a vegetarian, he would now eat beef to support “freedom for food” in India. Joshi later deleted his account.
In response, Bharatiya Janata Party supporters started tweeting with the hashtag #BoycottMakeMyTrip and #BoycottMMT, asking others to uninstall the company’s mobile application as well as give it the lowest rating on the mobile app store.
Well said. How can a Hindu vegetarian start eating beef. Can't imagine his mental status at present. #boycottMMT
— CA Sourabh Agrawal (@sourabhlagrawal) May 31, 2017
@makemytrip After hearing the views of your cofounder I rather prefer to get offers expensive than using your app #boycottMMT
— abhineet anand (@abhineet_anand2) May 31, 2017
I am a hindu and #cow is sacred in my culture.We treat cow as our mother but ur ceo hurt our sentiments by anti #hindu comment.#BoycottMMT
— Hitesh Mehta #Jain (@JagoBharathJago) June 1, 2017
At least six of those who tweeted with #BoycottMakeMyTrip are followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter via his personal account, said a report in The Indian Express.
MakeMyTrip in an official statement later distanced itself from its co-founder’s views, and said he no longer works with the company. However, some Twitter users pointed out that Joshi was still listed as a member of the Board of Directors on the company website.
The views expressed by Mr.Joshi on Twitter are his personal thoughts & do not reflect the views of MMT. He is not a current employee of MMT
— MakeMyTrip.com (@makemytrip) May 31, 2017
BJP supporters continued to trend #BoycottMMT, even 24 hours after the travel booking company had distanced itself from Joshi’s tweets. People tweeted screenshots of the uninstalled app, one-star ratings and negative reviews they had posted about MakeMyTrip.
A campaign had earlier been launched against Snapdeal in 2015 after its brand ambassador Aamir Khan spoke about “rising intolerance” in the country. Similarly, Indians started uninstalling Snapchat after its founder said India was a poor country.
