Cab Mein Charcha: Cabbies Counter Abhishek Mishra’s Hate With Love

Camera: Abhishek Ranjan and James
Video Editor: Ashish Maccune

On 20 April, a man named Abhishek Mishra tweeted that he had cancelled his cab booking because his cab driver was Muslim.

Cancelled @Olacabs Booking because Driver was Muslim. I don't want to give my money to Jihadi People. pic.twitter.com/1IIf4LlTZL

— Abhishek Mishra (@Abhishek_Mshra) April 20, 2018

Mishra is a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishada. His verified Twitter account – that bears the bio “Hindutva Thinker” – is followed by senior BJP leaders including Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Culture, Mahesh Sharma.

His hate speech did not go unnoticed by Twitterati:

The way @Abhishek_Mshra is being lambasted,more by Hindus than by Muslims gives me hope.Shows that a large part of the majority is Hindu not Hindutvavadi.All is not lost India.#We shall overcome.

— LEENA (@kunfaaya) April 22, 2018

What an awesome ride @Olacabs.
One of your best drivers, Gave him 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
Oh what he was Muslim
Cc @Abhishek_Mshra pic.twitter.com/S2Ug79YIUj

— Not Arun Jaitley (@ArainJutley) April 25, 2018

Please don't use petrol or diesel, because it's from muslim countries 😂

— Asheq Hameed (@asheq_hameed) April 22, 2018

Cancelled Ola cab today, because the driver's surname was Modi, and he had brought a bullock cart after promising to bring a Jaguar to drive me home.

— DrVatsa (@DocVatsa) April 22, 2018

Ola Responds

Ola, like our country, is a secular platform, and we don't discriminate our driver partners or customers basis their caste, religion, gender or creed. We urge all our customers and driver partners to treat each other with respect at all times.

— Ola (@Olacabs) April 22, 2018

What do cab drivers have to say about Mishra’s comments? Would they cancel out on someone on the basis of their religion? The Quint asked a few cab drivers to find out, and their responses were heart-warming, to say the least.

Their hatred can’t mess with our love and harmony.

Saqib

It doesn’t matter if he was a Hindu, Muslim or a Sikh. He was a human first.

Naveen Kumar

To quote one of the cab drivers we spoke to: “Religion does not earn us our bread”.