Hindu hardliners protest Kashmir tweets in Modi’s home state

The messages
were last week by the Pakistani branches of firms including Hyundai Motor, Kia
Motors, fast food chain Domino’s Pizza and Yum Brand Inc’s Pizza Hut and KFC,
which also operate in India.

They were
issued by the companies on Feb 5 to coincide with Pakistan’s Kashmir Solidarity
Day, held annually to commemorate the sacrifices of Kashmiris struggling for
self-determination, and caused anger among social media users in India.

“These
companies cannot be doing business in India and at the same time supporting Pakistan’s
stand on Kashmir,” Dinesh Navadiya, national treasurer of Hindu
nationalist organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), told Reuters during a
protest in the city of Surat.

Shouting
slogans such as “Kashmir is Ours” and wearing saffron scarves, more than
100 members of Bajrang Dal, another Hindu nationalist group, also joined the
protest – one of several held in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi.

Both the VHP
and Bajrang Dal are linked to Modi’s ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

The furore
has highlighted the risks faced by companies operating in India and arch rival
Pakistan, which control parts of Kashmir but both claim the Himalayan territory
in full.

India says
Pakistan supports an armed insurrection against New Delhi’s rule in
India-controlled Kashmir that broke out in 1990. Pakistan denies the charge and
says it only provides diplomatic and moral support for the Kashmiri people.

“We
protested peacefully against these companies for the tweets by their Pakistani
affiliates in support of Kashmir,” said Hitendrasinh Rajput, spokesperson
for the VHP’s state unit in Gujarat’s largest city of Ahmedabad.

“We
want to make it clear to these companies and others that Kashmir is an
inseparable part of India,” Rajput said.

Companies
including Hyundai, Kia, Domino’s Pizza, Yum Brand’s Pizza Hut and KFC, Japan’s
Suzuki Motor, Honda Motor and Isuzu Motor issued apologies as criticism grew
over the posts.