No room for racism in the UAE
There is no room for religious intolerance and hatred in the UAE, and an Emirati businesswoman and philanthropist has made that point loud and clear. Even though the Covid-19 coronavirus has been making headlines in the UAE and across the globe for months now, reports of Sheikha Hend Al Qassimi slamming Islamophobic social media posts made top news this week on Khaleej Times social media platforms.
Qassimi, in an interview with
Khaeej Times, said she was surprised to find Indian names behind some of these posts. A prejudiced section of social media users have targeted Muslims over a congregation of Tablighi Jamaat in New Delhi that reportedly led to an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in India.
The Emirati told Khaleej
Times on Tuesday: “When I first reacted to the tweet, I didn’t really know what Tablighi Jamaat was. I am sorry, but I grew up with Indians and they don’t talk like this. When I saw the tweet, what I said was what any Emirati would - that this hatred is not welcome.”
Her brave remarks garnered immense appreciation from social media users across the globe. An interview with her on our website reached 254,487 users and had 26,757 engagements. With 5,800 reactions, the post saw 601 comments and 929 shares. The comments have been those of appreciation as well. Kuldeep Kumar said: “Great step - respect everyone and their faiths.”
Rita Pinto Madikeri said: “Everyone should learn from UAE and its leadership. Proud to be a resident here in Dubai.” Sean McKevitte added: “No one has rights to humiliate any faith. Learn to respect, and the person who did this should face the law no matter what is his reputation.” Anish Srivastava said: “Very good ma’am. The UAE has given everything to everyone, and we have mosque, a church, and a temple. But, why do such people make comments on religion or particular person.”
The fact that some of the accounts from which the hatred was posted were real shocked her even further. “Unfortunately, they are (real). They even put the name of their companies. Nobody denies that we (Emiratis) depend on Indians, but trust me, nobody wants to do business with this category of people.”
She said the need of the hour is for everyone to focus on containing the Covid-19 pandemic. “We should put more energy in how we can get out of this coronavirus situation.”