Jawed Habib booked for insulting Hindu Gods, apologises

Hair stylist Jawed Habib (Express Photo/File)

A case has been registered against hair stylist Jawed Habib at the Saidabad police station for allegedly insulting Hindu Gods in a newspaper advertisement published in Kolkata two days ago. Based on a complaint by advocate K K Sagar, police registered a complaint under IPC section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs). A complaint was lodged against Habib and his chain of salons for issuing an advertisement that allegedly insulted Hindu Gods.

Inspector K Sattiah said they would seek legal opinion and, if necessary, send a notice to Habib. “I came to know Habib has already issued an apology in writing and also posted a video online apologising for the advertisement. We will take legal opinion and see how to proceed,” he said.

The advertisement featured a cartoon of Hindu Gods sitting in a salon with a caption: “Gods too visit Jawed Habib saloon.”

Story continues below this ad

Habib posted a video on Twitter apologising for the advertisement. “One of our partners released the advertisement in Kolkata. I have been working for 25 years. My only religion is scissors. Sentiments have been hurt. I apologise for this,” he said in the video.

A letter posted online by Jawed Habib Hair and Beauty Limited stated: “We never ever intended to hurt the sentiments of any community. It was done without knowledge of the company by some local people in West Bengal. We undertake to remove all such advertisement material from the media. If our ad campaign had inadvertently hurt anyone’s sentiments we apologise for that to the public at large,” the letter said.