India: Hindu groups force shut KFC, KIA stores over Kashmir tweet – By Al Jazeera and News Agencies (Al Jazeera) / February 12, 2022
Stores owned by multinational firms, including KIA, Hyundai and Pizza Hut, forced to close in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
Stores owned by several multinational companies have been forced to shut down by hardline Hindu groups in the Indian state of Gujarat after their Pakistan-based subsidiaries posted messages on social media in support of Kashmir.
The companies posted messages on social media on February 5 to coincide with Pakistan’s Kashmir Solidarity Day, held annually to commemorate the sacrifices of Kashmiris struggling for self-determination, causing anger among social media users in India.
Dozens of stores and showrooms belonging to Pizza Hut, KFC and South Korean car giants – Hyundai and KIA – were shut in the western Indian state by members of Hindu supremacist groups – the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) – linked to Prime Minister Modi’s governing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
“These companies cannot be doing business in India and at the same time supporting Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir,” Dinesh Navadiya, national treasurer of VHP, told the Reuters news agency during a protest in the city of Surat.
