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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Prajwal Revanna raped me at gunpoint and made videos, alleges JD(S) worker
Bengaluru, May 3: The Criminal Investigation Department investigating the sexual abuse allegations against JD(S) leader and NDA’s Hassan Lok Sabha candidate Prajwal Revanna has registered a case of rape against him, based on the complaint by a party worker.
The CID booked Prajwal, grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, after a JD(S) worker from Hassan lodged a complaint against him.
Besides the rape charges, the CID invoked sections against Prajwal pertaining to voyeurism, disrobing and making videos and taking photographs by threatening the complainant.
In the complaint, the woman said Prajwal had raped her at gunpoint and made videos on his mobile phones. She said Prajwal had taken her to the MP quarters where he perpetrated the crime at gunpoint and threatened that he would kill her as well as her husband, if she revealed to anyone what he had done.
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The accused allegedly forced her to satisfy his lust whenever he demanded, and threatened to make her video public if she did not cooperate.
Prajwal is facing allegations of sexually abusing several women. The state government-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) is investigating the case.
Scores of explicit video clips allegedly involving the 33-year-old MP sexually abusing several women had started making the rounds in recent days.
Prajwal is the BJP-JD(S) alliance's candidate from the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency where polling was held on April 26, after which he left the country on a diplomatic passport.
The JD(S) had joined the NDA in September last year.
The JD(S) leadership has suspended Prajwal from the party.
