February 8, 2022 – Hyundai Motors conveyed its apology to the Indian people after a Pakistani Hyundai dealer tweeted in support of the Kashmiri separatists amid severe backlash on social media.
The protest against Hyundai saw many users saying that they would cancel orders from the South Korean Auto-maker.
Hyundai Motors stated that it does not comment on political or religious issues in any specific region.
The statement read, “Hyundai Motor Company does not comment on political or religious issues in any specific region. Therefore, it is clearly against Hyundai Motor’s policy that the independently-owned distributor in Pakistan made unauthorized Kashmir-related social media posts from their accounts.”
They said that the Pakistani distributor had misused Hyundai’s brand identity. Hyundai motors took further steps and removed the tweet. They also added that measures had been taken to prevent any future recurrence of such issues.
Earlier, on February 5, Hyundai’s Pakistan dealer (Nishat Motor Ltd) tweeted, “Let us remember the sacrifices of our Kashmiri brothers and stand in support as they continue to struggle for freedom.”
The same handle had also tweeted, “Praying for the liberation of our eternally beautiful Kashmir today and always.”
On Monday, the South Korean Ambassador to India, Chang Jae-bok, was summoned and was made aware of the “strong displeasure” on the “unacceptable tweet.”
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted, “It was highlighted that this matter concerned India’s territorial integrity and there could be no compromise.”
On Tuesday, the South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong spoke to Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar said that it “regretted the offense caused to the people of India.”
Tweets and posts on social media in favor of Kashmir Solidarity day were also sent out by dealerships of KFC, Pizza Hut, Suzuki and Kia. These tweets have only increased the nationalistic sentiments of the Indians to support Indian brands such as Tata Motors and Mahindra.
Follow Zollical for more updates.
