UAE residents began “calling for the sacking of a Michelin-star chef in Dubai for his ‘anti-Islam tweet'”.
His offensive words during a heated Twitter exchange were these:
“It’s sad to see that you have not respected the sentiments of Hindus who have been terrorized by Islam over 2000 years. Shame on You.”
He deleted the tweet with an apology:
“There is no justification for my tweet … I fully recognise my inaccuracies that Islam was founded round 1400 years ago and I sincerely apologise. I am not Islamophobic, I deeply regret my comments that have offended many.”
The “Islamophobic” tweet drew outrage and a call for the chef’s firing, and now Kochhar is gone, two days after his tweet.
The restaurant issued the following statement:
Following the recent comments made by Chef Atul Kochhar, we have taken the decision to end our agreement with him for Rang Mahal. With the termination of our agreement, Chef Atul will no longer be associated with the restaurant,” Bill Keffer, general manager of JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai said…..At the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai we pride ourselves on creating a culture of diversity and inclusion for our guests and associates across the hotel and our restaurants
This case out of the United Arab Emirates bears worrying resemblance to many Western countries today, where an Islamic furor erupts at any perceived offence against Islam, followed by punishment from authorities who have increasingly bowed to the sharia.
“UAE residents call for sacking of famous chef for anti-Islam tweet”, by Anjana Sankar, Khaleej Times, June 12, 2018:
The UAE residents are calling for the sacking of a Michelin-star chef in Dubai for his “anti-Islam tweet”. Atul Kochhar, head chef of the popular Rang Mahal Indian restaurant at the JW Marriot Marquis hotel, received flak after taking a dig at Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra for her tweet over a Quantico episode that portrayed Hindu nationalists as terrorists.
“It’s sad to see that you have not respected the sentiments of Hindus who have been terrorized by Islam over 2000 years. Shame on You (sic),” Kochhar wrote. He later deleted the tweet and put out an apology, saying the “major error” was “made in the heat of the moment on Sunday”.
“There is no justification for my tweet … I fully recognise my inaccuracies that Islam was founded round 1400 years ago and I sincerely apologise. I am not Islamophobic, I deeply regret my comments that have offended many.”
JW Marriot hotel distanced itself from the chef’s comments. “We are aware of the comments made by Chef Atul Kochhar. We would like to stress that we do not share the same views as stated in the remark, nor is it a representation of the culture of diversity and inclusion that we pride ourselves on at the hotel,” tweeted JW Marriot Marquis on Monday.
The anti-Islam tweet created a furore on social media, with twitterati calling for firing the chef…..
“Dubai hotel cuts ties with Chef Atul Kochhar following tweet”, by Bindu Rai, Gulf News, June 13, 2018:
A Dubai hotel has cut ties with celebrity chef Atul Kochhar following an inflammatory tweet that caused outrage on social media amid accusations of racism, bigotry and Islamophobia.
The Michelin-starred chef operated the award-winning Rang Mahal Indian restaurant at Dubai’s JW Marriott Marquis Hotel.Following the recent comments made by Chef Atul Kochhar, we have taken the decision to end our agreement with him for Rang Mahal. With the termination of our agreement, Chef Atul will no longer be associated with the restaurant,” Bill Keffer, general manager of JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai said in an emailed statement to Gulf News tabloid!.
Mo says
Why do people immediately apologize and grovel? It’s not like it’s going to change anything. You’re still going to be fired.
Andy says
Chick-Fil-A
The leftists goes crazy and not over the sandwich.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBQTMeKY5so
Simo Hayha says
Stop. Wait….. Does THIS mean that muslimes have NOT been terrorizing and murdering Hindu’s for 1400 years? All a fabrication? Lies? Apparently, muslimes are a very “peaceful” bunch of gentle people who wouldn’t hurt a flea? Boy have I been wrong. I’m going to start apologizing to every one of my friends that is a muslime. Right now. Oh, wait. Drat. I don’t have any muslime friends because they are INSTRUCTED to NEVER have kuffar friends.
Jenny H says
He recognised the inaccuracy of his previous tweet. He amended it to 1,400 years from the initial 2,000 years mentioned in his original tweet. He didn’t realty apologise.
pat mott says
Well he was taking a chance in an Islamic country!!
Been There Got the Tee Shirt says
When in Rome….
Lydia Church says
That’s the worst advice anyone has ever given.
We are not chameleons, reflecting the error and evil around us!
We need to be a light shining in the darkness.
Of course one must anticipate this sort of retaliation and that is why things need to be done in a tactful way. I will stand up for the Gospel and the Lord and put my life at risk for all of this, and for morality and against evil, but that’s about it.
I realize not all are Christians of course, and if you are you need to count the cost before moving to a place like that. As I said, I wouldn’t last five minutes. I would not go on social media and do battle with every comment regarding islam, obviously. But I would not hide my faith in any way or at any time. Basically I would be a missionary and like I said, I’d give it five minutes. There are many in prisons and martyred over in these places all the time and it does not get reported on the media of course.
One last thing, I detest, despite, resent, and all around hate it when people say something to the effect of pretending to be something you are not. There are tactful exceptions, like detectives and stuff. But I mean about the faith and morality. As Christians, we do not have that option; to pretend to be something other than Christian, to escape danger. Jesus says so all over the Bible, try Matthew 10; 32-33.
What happens when people pretend to be something they are not in order to save their lives and livelihoods? The holocaust.
At first, they are just ‘pretending’ to go along with hitler, to save themselves in some way.
Next, they just ‘pretend’ to join the nazi party, you know, to escape danger.
They just pretend to do the nazi salute, pretend to scream in support of the evil dictator, and pretend their way through life.
Finally, in order to keep their jobs and support their loved ones, they just PRETEND to murder several million Jews. Oooops, what just happened there?
That’s how it happened then.
warren raymond says
He is wrong. Hindus have not been terrorized by Islam for 2000 years.
Its a mere 1300 years. Unfortunately, that correction won’t get him his job back.
gravenimage says
Yep.
b.a. freeman says
come on, Christine, cut dubai some slack here; they only demanded his firing, they didn’t *kill* him, like any *pious* muslim would do!
seriously, it is flabbergasting that he survived the brouhaha. if he understands islam (which his first tweet would indicate that he does), he will escape that blighted land as fast as he can.
Nannette says
Now that we know Marriott Hotels are fully sharia compliant…. we can choose to boycott them!
D Austin says
No surprise there! Marriott is Mormon owned. There are at least 80 similarities between the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, and Mohammad.
RC says
Please! Joseph Smith was a peaceful man of God. He was wrongfully imprisoned and beaten and tortured numerous times before being murdered by a mob of bigots. He was also a champion of the Constitution.The US Constitution is reverenced in LDS theology- we believe the Founding Fathers were inspired by God.I’m a Mormon from Utah and I’ve also traveled the world. Mormons don’t force violence on those not of their faith. Let me guess Mormons aren’t Christians right? All of our ordinances are done in the name of Jesus. There is no comparison brother!
Carole says
People are not yet aware that Twitter and Facebook and social media in general can be dangerous politically when you live or work in a repressive Islamic regime. That goes for all of us who at this point might wish to visit an Islamic country for whatever reason. No mercy for those that criticize the oppressive cult in power.
KJW says
That’s true. A woman who went to Iran was held and all she could think of as to why is her human rights husband tweete anti-Islam thngs. Someone is probably watching. Both a Saudi and Iranian were threatened with excution for tweeting about Islam, the Saudi guy joking about it. I don’t know what happened to them. Saudis have money in Twitter. Saudis have a lot of money in many things in the US inluding a textbook company and water out west. The UAE runs/owns the Chrysler building in New York City which irks people.
Wakeup says
Yep boycott them.
Stevie Nicks says
I made the decision to boycott everything associated with Islam after 9/11/2001. The truth has become more obvious every day. Spread the word like mayonnaise.
Lynne says
It’s really sad when a person cannot speak their mind. Muslim feelingsget so easilyhurt but think nothing of hurting everyone else.
Jaladhi says
Muslims do not like hearing the real truth about their religion and themselves – it is plain and clear! They still dream that Islam was spread peacefully and not by sword. All this Chef had done was to point out the assault of Muslim invaders on India and the resultant genocide of Hindus by the Muslim invaders and pointing oiut this universal truth is insulting to Muslims in Dubai. How ridiculous – oh Muslims can’t tolerate the truth about themselves and start crying Islamophobia. Hmm.. lets see if all Indians working in Dubai and other places leave today what will happen to Dubai? Hypocrites!!
infidel says
I’m SO UNHAPPY that he took back his tweet. Why be afraid for speaking the truth?? But then he could have been threatened by terrorist elements in Dubai..
Lydia Church says
I find these cowardly apologies disgusting too.
If you don’t back what you say, don’t say it to begin with.
If you do, then don’t take it back.
If it’s not that important, then don’t say it to begin with.
warren raymond says
JW, TT, Frontpage, sheik yer mami, BNI, all these blogs are censored in Dubai.
pemba says
Thank God he just got fired from the job,
Peter says
Well, he did exaggerate the number of years – it was more like 1,400 years of Islamic depredations against “polytheist,” “idolater,” and “infidel” Hindus, of which the first Muslims jihadists reported back to Kufa, I believe, that the Hindus were too numerous to slaughter.
Hari Singh says
Hope his boss gives him his passport back. He is not safe until he gets out of Muslim countries.
His firing shows that for non Muslims working for Muslims in a Muslim country is slavery. Slaves have no freedom of speech.
But we should remember this type of firing is happening with our dhimmi rulers in the West as well.
He should now say he is a refugee and show up at Merkele’s House.
Lebel says
“His firing shows that for non Muslims working for Muslims in a Muslim country is slavery. Slaves have no freedom of speech.”
Not sure about that, people get fired in similar situations in the US despite all the freedom of speech.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/oct/01/rick-sanchez-cnn-jon-stewart-jews-television-bigot
Europe compared to US is a disaster, even liking someone controversial on facebook can get you fired.
HugoHackenbush says
His firing may have saved his life. If he had remained in Dubai he might have been killed by an “overly pious individual who sadly misinterpreted the Koran”.
Lebel says
Not only 2000 years but also 80 million, some say 400 million victims (https://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/islamic-invasion-of-india-the-greatest-genocide-in-history/)
let’s say 2000 years and 1 billion victims
Janwaar Bibi says
As I have said before, the truth about Islam is horrific enough that no exaggeration is needed. We need to hold a mirror up to Muslims so they can see themselves for what they are.
Gigi says
That is how I feel. I like some of my Muslim coworkers, but I have challenged the one that I was closest to on a few points about Islam. Unfortunately, it was like talking to a wall. Completely brainwashed. At any rate, though, I feel no obligation to make Muslims feel comfortable with Islam. They should always be challenged, in a friendly way if possible.
Lebel says
Debates are fine even if religious people (or any dogmatic person) will always try and rationalize their beliefs one way or another. Imagine debating with a jihadwatcher who is convinced that he cannot be wrong on Islam? that’s what I go through everyday on here. So it’s fine as long as you don’t go the jihadwatch route and call your friend a pedophile worshipper responsible for 400 million deaths and rapes who should be deported or arrested because of his inability to admit that his religion is evil and leave it immediately.
Lebel says
There are numerous exaggerations when it comes to Islam. The reason is that historically it compares well to other empires (despite apparently having a much evil and disgusting ideology). So we can’t have that hence the 270 million nonsense and the 400 million victims etc. It has to be completely grotesque and over the top which also has the benefit of drawing attention away from the crimes committed by the much more advanced civilizations that drew their values from Jesus or Moses or Confucius.
Janwaar Bibi says
What is your estimate of the number of Hindus and other non-Muslims killed in India by Muslims between 711 AD (Mohammad Qasim) and 1707 AD (Aurangzeb)?
What are your sources for arriving at this estimate?
gravenimage says
I see that the appalling Lebel is now sneering at the number of Hindus slaughtered by Muslims. *Just sickening*.
WPM says
So 80 million victims and 1400 years is OK with you? Hindus ,Christians Jews and others are not really human to you Islamics if a million or 80 million killed not big deal just more insects smash by the hand of Islam!
gravenimage says
+1
Lebel says
No I don’t believe in those figures. They are obviously made up for ideological reasons.
Prabh says
Marriot must be kicked out of India. Should I ever need to stay at a hotel, I will NEVER consider any property owned by marriot.
gravenimage says
Dubai: Famous Indian chef gets sacked over “Islamophobic” tweet
………………
He should not have apologized–everything he said was correct, except the timeline was a bit off.
Gary Rossbach says
UAE is Shariah compliant, furthermore I believe that all businesses in UAE are required to have 51% UAE native citizen partnerships. Therefore there was no choice in the matter for Marriott, even though the perceived slight was directed at Bollywood, not Islam. No perceived slight or disrespect of Islam is permitted … just like in the UK and here in the US.
TWG says
The only apology I see in his response is that he misspoke about the time frame. 2000 yrs vs. 1400 yrs. The rest of his comment is generally accurate.
Michelin rated Chefs are hard to come by, and worth their weight in Gold to a restaurant or catering company that appreciates fine cuisine and has even the most pedestrian understanding how the restaurant and catering industries succeed. I’m fairly optimistic this Man will find another job quickly, just not working for islammunists like the Marriot.
terry says
I’m an unabashed islamophobe based on rational.