Zomato apologises to Hindus !

• Actor Hrithik Roshan’s Zomato ad had demeaned Ujjain’s Mahakaleshwar temple !
• The advertisement claims to be about ‘Mahakal Restaurant’ and not about Mahakaleshwar temple

Ujjain (MP) – An ad by online food retailer Zomato, which insulted the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas, drew strong opposition from Hindus. There were trends on social media against it. Following this, an apology has been issued by Zomato. Actor Hrithik Roshan is featured in this advertisement. In this ad, Hrithik Roshan says, ‘I was in Ujjain. I wanted a thali (meal) from Mahakal and so I ordered it’. ‘Mahakal’ was a reference to the Mahakaleshwar temple, so it was opposed by Hindus. Zomato in its apology said, ‘Mahakal Thali refers to the dish from ‘Mahakal Restaurant’ in Ujjain. It is not related to the Mahakaleshwar temple. We do not intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments by this. We respect the sentiments of the citizens of Ujjain’.

‘Mahakal se mangaa liya..’, new Zomato ad linking Mahakaleshwar temple to food delivery ignites controversy, priest condemns the ad for hurting Hindu sentiments https://t.co/MusB9zK1aF

— OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) August 20, 2022

1. The ad was also opposed by the priests of the Mahakaleshwar temple. Temple priest Mahesh had said that Zomato should have thought before making such an advertisement. Hindus never take an aggressive stance; but, if such an advertisement had been made with reference to another religion, they would have set fire to the office of Zomato. ‘If this establishment does not apologise, we will go to Court’, he said.

2. Priest Mahesh further said that Mahakaleshwar temple has a food canopy, but there is no system for home delivery of food from there. Therefore, this establishment should not advertise in the name of Mahakaleshwar. This establishment also distributes non-vegetarian food.

3. Mahakal Mandir Committee President Ashish Singh also condemned this advertisement. He also explained that ‘there is no system to distribute food from the temple’s food canopy’. Action will be taken against them to stop the airing of this advertisement, he added.

 The hashtag ‘#Boycott_Zomato’ trended on Twitter after hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. The trend was number two nationally for a while and was also among the top 10 trends in India for a long time. Through this trend, many demanded that Zomato should apologise to Hindus.

Editorial Viewpoint

No one is afraid of denigrating Hindu Dharma, Deities, etc. because there is no strict law in India regarding blasphemy. In Pakistan blasphemy is punishable by death. When will this happen in India ?