Swiggy customer in Hyderabad writes 'Don't want Muslim delivery person', netizens fume

On an app-based food delivery platform, a Hyderabad customer made an unusual request that caused outrage on social media, with many criticising them for their bigotry. The customer specified to the restaurant through Swiggy that they do not want a Muslim delivery person. This brought up the question of whether food has a religion. 

Shaik Salauddin, head of an organisation of workers employed in the gig economy, shared a screenshot of a Swiggy order and urged the netizens to take a stand against it. 

He said shared the screenshot on twitter "Dear @Swiggy please take a stand against such a bigoted request. We (Delivery workers) are here to deliver food to one and all, be it Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh @Swiggy @TGPWU Mazhab Nahi Sikhata Aapas Mein Bair Rakhna." 

August 30, 2022

The controversy hasn't gotten a response from Swiggy yet.

Congress MP from Karnataka, Karti Chidambaram, was one among those who expressed outrage.

"Platform companies cannot sit back and watch as gig workers face such blatant bigotry in the name of religion. What action will such companies take to safeguard the rights of gig workers?" he tweeted while tagging Swiggy.

August 31, 2022

Many similar incidents have been reported in the past.

In 2019, a man tweeted about cancelling his order placed on food delivery platform Zomato as the designated rider was a "non-Hindu". 

The company had tweeted in response to the customer, "Food doesn't have a religion. It is a religion," 

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal also responded to this and defended its delivery man. "We are proud of the idea of India - and the diversity of our esteemed customers and partners. We aren't sorry to lose any business that comes in the way of our values," he had tweeted.