Kerala Man Living In Saudi Removed From Job For Making Insensitive And Derogatory Remark On Sabarimala Row

The social media in the recent time has been both bane and boon for the society. There have been several incidents when people have used social media platforms to make derogatory remarks without any fear of repercussions. But, now companies are taking stands on issues and firing their employees if their remarks on social media put the organisation in the bad light. Recently, an Indian man in Saudi Arabia has been fired from his job for posting “derogatory comments”. In the last few months, there have been many instances when people have received strict actions against their insensitive reactions.
Deepak Pavithram, a Keralite working for a Riyadh based firm Lulu Hypermarket, was sacked from his job on Tuesday. On social media, he posted(which is deleted now) derogatory remark saying that now Lord Ayappa have the option of women from different age groups as now women of all ages are allowed inside Sabarimala temple.
While confirming the incident the Lulu Group’s chief communications officer V. Nandakumar said, the company has a “strict and zero tolerance policy” concerning staff misusing social media to spread “malicious or derogatory comments which might hurt religious sentiments”.
He further said, “All the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations are home to a large cosmopolitan population that comes from various parts of the country. We respect sentiments, culture and religious beliefs of everyone.” Soon after this move, many Kerala expatriates appreciated the company’s firm step towards these insensitive remarks.

The Sabarimala issue

On September 28 in the historic verdict, the Supreme Court allowed the women of 10-50 years of age (menstruation age) to enter Sabarimala. On  October 18, Sabarimala temple opened its gates amidst violent protest and attacks on women who tried to enter the temple.
Till now at least three women have been turned back from the hilltop temple and were not allowed to enter the temple. On October 22, the temple would get closed after five-day monthly prayer during the Malayalam month of Thulam, as reported by The Wire.

The past incidence

In August another Indian man from Kerala working in Lulu group in Oman was fired from the company after he posted offensive remarks on social media about the Kerala flood relief efforts in the state. The man identified as Rahul Cheru Palayattu on a social media post where someone was asking for sanitary pads, commented that if people require condoms too. His comments received the wrath of people, and many called out his comments as insensitive.
Soon after his comments, the Lulu Group immediately terminated Rahul ’s contract, citing his remarks were “highly insensitive and derogatory”. However, the man later apologised for his behaviour and claimed that he was inebriated at the time when he made such comments, as reported by The News Minute.

Being inebriated should not be an excuse

Earlier, in June this year, another Indian man who worked as a senior HR manager in a Dubai-based construction company was fired from his company after he posted a threating video. Nair, (56) who is a native of Kerala posted a video threatening to rape Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s relative. In the video, he is seen using racist slurs and abuses for CM Vijayan. He described himself as a right-wing sympathiser who would leave his job and will come to India to kill Pinarayi Vijayan. After receiving the backlash, the deleted the video and claimed that he was also inebriated at the time he posted the video.
His company took cognisance of the hateful comments and sacked him.
Last year in April 2017, an Indian employee was sacked from a Dubai based company Alpha Paints for sending abusive messages to investigative journalist Rana Ayyub. Ayyub posted the screenshots of those messages on Twitter after which the company’s management took action.
Impressed by the UAE stern action, journalist Ayyub told the Khaleej Times that she was surprised by such actions. She said that so many people India have abused her or has sent her derogatory message on social media but the Indian companies have rarely taken any action against the offender. “If this is the norm in the UAE, then I salute the country,” she said.
Source: The Logical Indian
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