NEW DELHI: South Korea's Hyundai Motor faced calls on Monday for a boycott of its cars from Indians incensed over a tweet from the account of its Pakistan partner that expressed solidarity for the people of the disputed territory of Kashmir.
The row erupted on Sunday, a day after Pakistan marked the annual Kashmir Solidarity Day and the posts on behalf of Hyundai's partner Nishat Group appeared on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram commemorating the sacrifices of Kashmiris struggling for self-determination.
Hundreds of social media users in India, which considers the whole of Kashmir as an integral part of the country, backed calls for a boycott, saying Hyundai must apologise for being insensitive to India's position on the decades-old dispute.
Dozens of Indians posted their intention to cancel orders for Hyundai cars in order to punish the company while urging support for homegrown brands like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra.
Responding to the furore, Hyundai's India unit said that it has a "zero tolerance policy towards insensitive communication and we strongly condemn any such view".
"The unsolicited social media post linking Hyundai Motor India is offending our unparalleled commitment and service to this great country," @HyundaiIndia said, adding that it stands firmly behind its "strong ethos of respecting nationalism".
Reuters requested comment from Hyundai's headquarters in Seoul and from Nishat Group, Pakistan's largest business conglomerate, but did not receive any immediate response.
Hyundai is India's second-largest car seller after Maruti Suzuki selling close to half a million vehicles in the country last fiscal year and exporting over a million units, making it India's largest car exporter.
Ashwani Mahajan, an official at the economic wing of the powerful Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) group with close ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government said Hyundai should clarify its position on Kashmir.
"While not criticising @HyundaiPakistan Indian arm of @Hyundai_Global is not even saying that Kashmir is an integral part of India. Speaks tons about their commitment to India. Doesn't this call for #BoycottHyundai?", he said.
Indian Twitter user Ashutosh Soni said he has cancelled his booking for Hyundai's Verna sedan which was due to be delivered this month and purchased a car from rival Honda Motor.
"#BoycottHyundai, that's it!", Soni tweeted from his handle @CA_AshutoshSoni on Sunday, along with a photograph of himself taking delivery of a new Honda car.
"Let's make them bankrupt. India is one of the biggest market for cars," filmmaker and social activist, Ashoke Pandit said on Twitter with a screenshot of a fall in Hyundai's share price on Monday.
While Hyundai's share fell 1.25% on Monday, weakening more than Seoul's benchmark index, the main factors behind the drop were concerns over record numbers of COVID-19 cases in South Korea, and ongoing worries that a global chip shortage could hit production and sales.
The trouble over the social media post highlights the risks global companies face amid rising nationalism in the region.
India and Pakistan have twice gone to war over Muslim majority Kashmir and Modi's government has pursued an aggressive policy to combat a militant separatist insurgency that it accuses Pakistan of stoking. Islamabad denies the charge but says it provides moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people.
Twitter users in India have made similar calls in the past, seeking to boycott Chinese goods in 2020 after a border clash between the two Asian giants which disrupted automobile supply chains and other industries. Amazon.com Inc has also faced social media backlash in India after its overseas website was found selling goods with faces of Hindu gods
Hyundai suffers backlash in India after Pakistani partner tweets on Kashmir
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Hyundai suffers backlash in India after Pakistani partner tweets on Kashmir
- Tweet from Hyundai's Pakistan partner expressed solidarity for people of disputed territory of Kashmir on Sunday
- Social media users in India called for Hyundai to apologise for being insensitive to India's position on decades-old dispute
At OIC meeting, Pakistan calls on world to halt Israel’s annexation of West Bank
- Israel this month decided to approve land registration procedures in parts of the West Bank for the first time since 1967
- FM Ishaq Dar demands end to Palestinian displacement, reconstruction of Gaza, pathway to independent Palestinian state
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday called on the international community to stop Israel from annexing the occupied West Bank, demanding a “political pathway” toward an independent Palestinian state.
Israel decided this month to approve land registration procedures in parts of the West Bank for the first time since 1967, drawing sharp criticism from Muslim nations along with several European countries, which described it as a move to ease the path for settlement expansion and annexation.
Speaking at an extraordinary ministerial session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the development carries profound implications not only for the Palestinian people but also for the credibility of international law, United Nations charter and the integrity of the multilateral system.
“Israel continues with impunity to expand illegal settlements and enforce de facto annexation in the Occupied West Bank. These actions, flagrantly violate international law including UN Charter, UN Security Council Resolution 2803 [endorsing President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza], undermine all diplomatic efforts and threaten the very foundation of a just and lasting peace,” Dar said.
“These violations embolden further aggression, erode regional stability and trample on the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people. The international community must decisively act and act now to halt these violations, uphold international law and ensure delivery of the assurances made in good faith to the group of eight Arab-Islamic countries, including Pakistan.”
The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA). More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, excluding Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, alongside nearly three million Palestinians.
Dar recalled that leaders and the foreign ministers of the group of eight Arab-Islamic countries, including Pakistan, engaged with United States President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Sept. 25 to help end the bloodshed in Gaza, ensure unimpeded humanitarian access, secure a permanent and sustainable ceasefire and advance a comprehensive peace process for the Palestinian brothers and sisters.
“During these consultations, we, the group of eight, ensured that the non-annexation of the Occupied West Bank remained firmly on the agenda and assurances were given to us in New York that the annexation of West Bank would not take place,” he said.
“In view of the serious gravity of the situation, we need to collectively ensure, first, an immediate reversal of all Israeli measures aimed at de-facto annexation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including West Bank, which constitutes a red line for any just resolution of the issue of Palestine.”
Pakistan is among the Group of Eight Arab Islamic countries, which also includes Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Egypt and Türkiye. Islamabad does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and maintains a firm policy of non-recognition, rooted in its support for an independent Palestinian state in the Middle East with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Speaking at the meeting, Dar called for an immediate end to all “forms of displacement, democratic manipulation and collective punishment” of the Palestinians, a ceasefire in and reconstruction of Gaza as well as “a credible, irreversible and time-bound political horizon” leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
