A bakery owner of 'Jain bakeries and confectionaries' in Chennai was arrested for an advertisement of his store which claimed that the products at the eatery were only made by Jains and not by "Muslim staff".
The advertisement stirred havoc on social media and sparked outrage calling out the bakery for discrimination. The bakery, located in Chennai's Mahalakshmi Street in T. Nagar, put out an advertisement which read "Made by Jains on orders, No Muslim staffs".
After which a complaint was filed accusing the owner of causing communal disharmony. The Mambalam Police Inspector S Balamurali arrested the owner, Prasanth (27), based on the complaint within hours.
The owner was booked under section 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and section 504 of the IPC (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace).
As quoted by TNM, the Inspector Balamurali said, "He operates a home bakery and the advertisement was circulated on WhatsApp group for people from the Jain community in Chennai. He would receive orders on the app and would bake the items at home and then deliver. When the advertisement came to my knowledge and I took suo motu action."
'Not intended to communalise', claims bakery owner
According to reports, the owner said that the advertisement was "not intended to communalise. He further added that they took the decision of advertising just to 'clear the air' after rumours of urging people not to buy bakery products made by Muslims were doing rounds on social media and Whatsapp. The owner also said that they received several calls from customers confirming that if the baker had Muslim staff.
The advertisement revised a huge backlash on Twitter. A Twitter user said, "Utterly despicable. More critically it is discriminatory and unconstitutional. Shame on you Jain Bakery. Alert @chennaipolice_ on this criminal act by Jain Bakeries & Confectioneries."
Another tweeted, "Jain Bakeries and Confectioneries owner was arrested for advertising his store with a tagline 'no Muslim staffs. Islamophobia must be weeded out like this before it takes root."
Currently, the owner is out on bail said the police officer.
(to be further updated)
