With the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act, the faultlines within Indian society are becoming ever more prominent. The anti-Hindu bigotry of the anti-CAA protesters has been evident ever since the protests began. When the pressure tactics failed and Amit Shah made it clear that the government will not back down in the face of protests, radical elements from a particular community have begun targeted attacks against ordinary Hindus who are supporting the government over the matter.
First, a doctor in Kerala was forced to resign from the hospital he worked at for his support towards the CAA and seeking the deportation of illegal immigrants from the country. Then, Madhur Singh, popularly known as ThePlacardGuy, was threatened with a Kamlesh Tiwari-like fate for criticizing Islamic fundamentalists.
Now, a Lucknow-based businessman is being attacked by Islamic fundamentalists for his support towards the CAA. Irene Akbar, a former journalist at The Indian Express, is leading the charge against Sachin Sahni.
In her tweet, Irene Akbar called on Muslims and ‘Secular non-Muslims’ to boycott the chain of gyms and beauty parlours owned by Sachin Sahni.
THREAD
Dear Muslims & secular non-Muslims,
Kindly boycott Healthzone chain of gyms & beauty parlours in Lucknow & Keeros brand of health snacks sold on Amazon and in malls in Delhi (maybe other places too). The owner, Sachin Sahni, is a rabid Islamophobe (1/n)— Irena Akbar (@irenaakbar) January 23, 2020
Irene Akbar posted screenshots of the allegedly ‘offensive’ posts on Twitter. In one of the posts that she found offensive, Sahni says that the country was divided along religious lines in 1947 and that Muslims partitioned the country to carve out an Islamic state for themselves.
He says in the same post that he considers his Muslim friends who oppose the CAA to be anti-Hindu, Sikh and Buddhists as the CAA only seeks to provide citizenship to the persecuted minorities from the three neighbouring Islamic States.
One of the posts Irene Akbar found offensive was one video by a Pakistan Muslims which Sahni had shared on his own profile with the caption, “A sensible Muslim’s advice to those Indian Muslims who are burning the country because of CAB”.
Another ‘offensive’ post said, “It’s as if it’s not the CAA but a snake-charmer”. In another ‘offensive’ post, Sahni shared footage of the train that was burnt in West Bengal by Muslim anti-CAA protesters with the caption “Shameful Peacefulls”.
And the last screenshot was that of a post which was shared by Sahni that said: “lovers of Rohingya Muslims must keep at least two of them in their own houses” along with a Kashmiri terrorist.
Irene Akbar informs that Sahni’s Muslim customers have begun boycotting the services provided by Healthzone that include gyms and beauty parlours. She has also urged Muslims to boycott the Keeros brand of health snacks sold on Amazon and in malls in Delhi as it is owned by Sachin Sahni. She said that Healthzone has “earned crores from Muslims who form a large (maybe 50%) chunk of their clients. My bhabhi paid advance money for their service.” Claiming that Sahni “spews venom against Muslims”, she urged Muslims to boycott.
