Four days after celebrity hair stylist Jawed Habib had issued an apology over an ad featuring Goddess Durga, an irate mob on Saturday attacked his salon in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district.
Read: Hairstylist Jawed Habib apologises for ad featuring Goddess Durga, calls it a 'blunder'
The mob which was led by members of the Hindu Jagran Manch vandalised the shop in Motinagar.
Regional Secretary of the Hindu Jagran Manch, Vimal Dwivedi said 'sacrilege of Hindu gods wouldn't be tolerated'.
"We will not allow the salon to operate," added Dwivedi.
The workers of the Hindu organisation have threatened the owner to shut down his business.
While the activists vandalised the salon, many customers were stuck inside. A police complaint has been registered. The cops have questioned a few eye witnesses and recorded their statements.
Advertisements featuring Durga, her children and their vahanas are a popular method to promote various goods and services during the major five-day autumn festival in Bengali dominated state. However, this art had landed Habib in trouble.
The ad with its tagline "Gods too visit JH salon," has been seen as an insult to the Hindu religion.
Advocate K Karuna Sagar from Hyderabad registered a case against the ad under IPC section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).
Rubbish ad by Jawed Habib. I dare him to do such an ad on his Prophet. pic.twitter.com/XxpZQ7pZiu
— Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) September 5, 2017
Muslims r worst breed on earth,kill ,behead if anyone even comments on islam or prophet but make fun of Hindus & our gods with impunity? pic.twitter.com/KptWbxSp0z
— Madhulika kak (@madskak) September 5, 2017
Meanwhile, Habib who had taken to Twitter to post a video to apologise for the ad said the ad was released in Kolkata by a partner, without his knowledge.
"Dear all, we respect your sentiments and we apologize sincerely. It was not to hurt you at all," Habib tweeted.
"This is our culture and we did so many good things in the past. I know it was a blunder, (a) mistake but we deserve respect also. People are writing unethical words. Do we deserve this? Seems like 30 years of hard work has just gone," Habib told IANS.
