Hyundai regrets offense caused to people of India after backlash on Pak distributor's Kashmir tweet
New Delhi (PTI): South Korean auto major Hyundai Motor Company on Tuesday regretted the offense caused to Indians by "unauthorised Kashmir-related social media posts" by its distributor in Pakistan and said the action was against its global policy.
On Sunday Hyundai Motor India had faced backlash on social media, after a dealer of Hyundai in Pakistan posted a message supporting separatists in Kashmir, and #BoycottHyundai trended on Twitter in India with many people asking to stop buying the company's products in the country.
A twitter account of a Hyundai dealer in Pakistan with handle @hyundaiPakistanOfficial had posted a message supporting Kashmir Solidarity Day, supporting what it called as "struggle for freedom".
"As a business policy, Hyundai Motor Company does not comment on political or religious issues in any specific region. Therefore it is clearly against the Hyundai Motor's policy that the independently owned distributor in Pakistan made unauthorized Kashmir related social media posts from their own accounts," the company said in a statement posted on social media.
Stressing that Hyundai Motor Company has been investing in India for many decades and "remains strongly committed to Indian customers", it said, "We deeply regret any offense caused to the people of India by this unofficial social media activity."
The company further said once the situation was brought to its attention, it made the distributor acutely aware of the "inappropriateness of the action".
"We have since taken measures to ensure the distributor which misused the Hyundai brand identity has removed the social media posts and we have put in place processes to prevent a future recurrence," the statement said.
Clarifying that its subsidiary, Hyundai Motor India, is not associated with the distributor in Pakistan, the company said, "We strongly reject the distributor's unauthorized non business related social media activity."
Hyundai Motor India is the second-largest carmaker in the country after Maruti Suzuki India. It currently sells 12 models, including Creta and Venue in the domestic market.
In December last year, the automaker announced plans to invest around Rs 4,000 crore to drive in around six electric vehicles in India by 2028. It is planning to roll out a mix of models based on its existing range as well as completely new vehicles based on its global platform 'E-GMP' over the next few years.
Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company is present in over 200 countries with more than 1.2 lakh employees.
On Monday, Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) chain KFC apologised following outrage on social media over a post from its Pakistan-based franchise supporting separatists in Kashmir.
Similarly, another QSR chain Pizza Hut also issued a statement saying "it does not condone, support or agree with the contents of a post circulating in social media" after facing backlash over an Instagram post on Kashmir by its official handle in Pakistan.
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Delhi LG 'praises' CM Atishi, calls her 'thousand times better than her predecessor' Kejriwal
New Delhi, Nov 22: In a left-handed compliment to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Friday said she is "a thousand times better" than her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal.
At the seventh convocation ceremony of the Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women here, Saxena said, "I am happy today that Delhi's CM is a woman, and I can confidently say that she is a thousand times better than her predecessor."
While making the comment, he took a glance at Atishi who also addressed the students.
The AAP and BJP have been at loggerheads over a range of issues, including governance and control of bureaucracy. Kejriwal tendered his resignation in September and said he would seek a "certificate of honesty" from the public in light of the corruption charges he faced. Atishi succeeded him as the chief minister.
Last year, Saxena ignored the AAP government's request to allow Atishi, who was then the education minister to hoist the national flag at the state-level Independence Day event.
A row brewed over the issue with the Aam Aadmi Party lashing out at Saxena after the General Administration Department refused to implement Minister Gopal Rai's direction to let Atishi hoist the tricolour in place of former then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who was in the jail in the excise policy scam.
In his speech, Saxena told the students, "As you move ahead, you have four guiding stars. First is your responsibility towards yourself, the second is your responsibility towards your parents and family while the third responsibility is towards the society and nation-building."
"The fourth responsibility is to prove yourself as women who have broken the glass ceiling of gender and stand on par with others in all fields," he said.
Kejriwal had proposed Atishi's name as the chief minister at a meeting of the legislature party and it was unanimously accepted.
When she took charge of the office, Atishi kept an empty chair besides hers for Kejriwal.
Addressing at the event, Atishi reflected on the progress made in the education sector under the AAP government.
"Education is the key to development. Take the example of the US, Canada, or the UK. They provided free education and schooling, and that is why they are developed countries today."
"Ten years ago, when we formed the government here, we saw the same dream. Since then, we have been spending 25 percent of our education budget on improving the sector," she said.
