The Islamophobic-discriminatory post that went viral: Girl claims FB account was hacked

The girl, from whose account the discriminatory messages were sent, claims her Facebook account was hacked, and Sony Music India, too, issued a statement saying the girl in question was not connected with the company.

Source: Screenshot

Story has been updated.

It’s a sad but undeniable truth that we live in Islamophobic times. While in the US, presidential candidate contender Donald Trump has time and again made comments on the ‘Muslim problem’, in India too the sentiment seems to have seeped into modern society, as was visible through a Facebook post that recently went viral.

The heartening thing, though, is that there have been many who have spoken against the sentiment as well.

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To give a backgrounder, Delhi girl Shruti Hasan Ali shared an incident on Facebook along with a screenshot of conversation between her brother-in-law and a supposed ‘talent hunt’ director. Ali mentioned that her relative Syed Salman Haider was asked not to even apply for a modelling vacancy the director had posted on social media because he is a Muslim. “V don’t cast Muslims. As they could be terrorist,” said Radhika Saini, whose then Facebook profile said that she is ‘Assistant Talent hunt director at Sony Music Entertainment’.

Ali wrote:

This incident happened with my brother in law!

Discrimination- is not new and this is appalling.
When the biggest actors in our country are Muslims, then why can’t a Muslim kid try for modelling?

Is this the company policy or the assistant talent hunt director feels this way?

Why are Muslims burdened with the stigma of being hand in glove with the terrorists?

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The real terrorists have won when the people of our county begin to feel like this.

That is their big plan. An army of disgruntled muslim youth ready to fight against their own countries.
So thank you “Radhika Saini”for helping the terrorists out. Good job!!

This is the plague that will engulf the world, however sad it is!

According to subsequent comments to Ali’s post, Saini later changed her employment status to “self-employed” (but she still continues to state that she “works for Assistant Talent hunt director at Sony Music Entertainment” as well) and even blamed “muslim community hakers (sic)” for playing with her account.

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There was an outrage over Saini’s conversation with Haider, and many asked for an official clarification from Sony Music India as well. As the word spread, the company posted a message on their Facebook page, stating that it has no association with Radhika Saini and this was a “clear case of impersonation.”

“We are consulting with our lawyers and will take appropriate action,” they wrote.

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