Vehicle manufacturer Hyundai Motors is facing a lot of backlash in India as #BoycottHyundai is trending on Twitter with over 1 lakh tweets on Sunday. It all began with a tweet (now deleted) by an unverified Twitter handle (@PakistanHyundai) of the vehicle company in which it supported the ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ Pakistan observes on February 5 each year.
“Let us remember the sacrifices of our Kashmiri brothers and stand in support as they continue to struggle for freedom,” the social media handle of Hyundai Pakistan posted using the hashtag #KashmirSolidarityDay.
Netizens in India were enraged with the post and started tagging Hyundai India on Twitter while asking it to explain its stand on the issue. Soon #BoycottHyundai started trending as social media users called for boycotting Hyundai products. Many claimed they were blocked by the official Hyundai India Twitter handle when they asked for clarification. By the end of the day, Hyundai India came up with an official statement saying that it stood firmly for “our strong ethos of respecting nationalism”.
“Hyundai Motor India has been committed to Indian market for more than 25 years now and we stand firmly for our strong ethos of respecting nationalism. The unsolicited social media post linking Hyundai Motor India is offending our unparalleled commitment and service to this great country. India is second home to the Hyundai brand and we have zero tolerance policy towards insensitive communication and we strongly condemn any such view. As part of our commitment to India, we will continue our efforts towards the betterment of the country as well as its citizens,” read the Hyundai statement.
So far, there is no clarification from the Pakistan Hyundai handle though it has deleted the actual post. India is a huge market for the South Korean Motor Company which has also partnered with Hyundai Nishat (Hyundai Pakistan).
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