A tweet by a man claiming to have cancelled his Ola cab because the driver was Muslim has prompted outrage on Twitter. Abhishek Mishra, whose Twitter profile describes him as a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and a “Hindutva Thinker” tweeted on April 20: “Cancelled @Olacabs Booking because Driver was Muslim. I don’t want to give my money to Jihadi People.”

Cancelled @Olacabs Booking because Driver was Muslim. I don't want to give my money to Jihadi People. pic.twitter.com/1IIf4LlTZL — Abhishek Mishra (@Abhishek_Mshra) April 20, 2018

The tweet garnered much attention over the weekend and there were multiple pleas to the cab aggregator, Ola, and Twitter, to take action against Mishra. Many also pointed out that Mishra was followed by some Union ministers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Culture, Mahesh Sharma.

Mishra’s Facebook profile claims that he works for the VHP’s IT cell and his cover photo is an image of him with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

All the top Bjp leaders, including some sensible people follow this account @PiyushGoyalOffc @Ra_THORe are some of them. This is so embarrassing https://t.co/pGOGgoh28o — Priyank Sanghani (@ipriyanks) April 23, 2018

Oh, nothing. Just some casual Islamophobia for the day. https://t.co/lhqz7E8KCj — Nidhi Mahajan (@NidhiMahajn) April 23, 2018

Dear @Olacabs, if u don't believe in racial or religious discrimination of your employees, please block this moron's Ola account. https://t.co/OqhucFRNrK — Kapil (@kapsology) April 22, 2018

Hey @Olacabs are you ok with your drivers being discriminated against? Why so silent? How about banning this idiot from using your service. https://t.co/WYcwcpCVwd — Bruce (@brucedepenha) April 23, 2018

I am an Ola user.



If @Olacabs does not block this user and confirm the same on Twitter, I am going to uninstall Ola App and travel only by Uber, Meru or Airport Taxi.



I will assume that Ola supports divisiveness if this user is not blocked. https://t.co/jzSBiPYhed — Gp Capt Christopher (@bcchristopher) April 23, 2018

On Sunday evening, Ola responded to Mishra’s tweet, asserting that it is a secular platform that does not discriminate against its drivers.

Ola, like our country, is a secular platform, and we don't discriminate our driver partners or customers basis their caste, religion, gender or creed. We urge all our customers and driver partners to treat each other with respect at all times. — Ola (@Olacabs) April 22, 2018

On Monday, Twitter continued confronting the issue in the way it knows best: through humour and satire. Twitter user “A purvaa” said “Cancelled an Ola cab because driver was a guy named Vikas and uske aane ki umeed thi nhi mujhe.” The driver’s name was Vikas, and I didn’t expect him to come, she said, taking a dig at the BJP’s campaign promise of bringing Vikas, or development, to India.

Cancelled an Ola cab because driver was a guy named Vikas and uske aane ki umeed thi nhi mujhe. — A purvaa (@dreamy_indian) April 22, 2018

Cancelled Ola cab today, because the driver's surname was Modi, and he had brought a bullock cart after promising to bring a Jaguar to drive me home. — DrVatsa (@DocVatsa) April 22, 2018

Cancelled Ola Cab booking today because driver's name was Savarkar. He called me to apologise and said “The Mighty alone can afford to be merciful and therefore where else can the prodigal driver return but to the parental doors of the Customer” — Joy (@Joydas) April 23, 2018

Cancelled an Ola Cab today as the driver was a man and all men are trash. (am I doing this right) — Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) April 22, 2018

Another Twitter user said: “Cancelled an Ola Cab booking today because the driver’s name was Atif and he screamed “Hum kis gali ja rahe hain” on the call”, referencing popular musician Atif Aslam and his song that translates to, “Where are we going?”

Canceled an Ola Cab booking today because the driver’s name was Atif and he screamed “Hum kis gali ja rahe hain” on the call. — Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) April 22, 2018

“Cancelled an Ola Cab because the driver’s name was Salman Khan, aur bhai saab main khda tha footpath pe (and I was standing on a footpath”, tweeted Dr. Gill, invoking the infamous hit-and-run case in which the Bollywood actor was tried and later acquitted.

Cancelled an Ola Cab because driver’s name was Salman Khan aur bhai saab main khda tha footpath pe... 🏃 — Dr. Gill (@ikpsgill1) April 23, 2018

Several jokes about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and famous sportsmen also followed.

I also cancelled Ola Booking because Driver name was Modi. I didn't want to be 'taken for a ride' & he would've talked more than driving & taken lots of U-Turns ! https://t.co/u4EC7ioyoo — Adnan (@AdnaanJan) April 23, 2018

Cancelled an Ola cab because driver was a guy named Kejriwal as he would take a U Turn just before reaching the destination and drop me back home. — The Engineer (@HumorGyan) April 23, 2018

Cancelled @Olacabs today because driver's name was Narendra. He was driving abroad. https://t.co/GWsNb3XqQU — Achal Gupta (@heisenburp) April 23, 2018

cancelled my ola because:

a friend said bol pencil,

i said pencil.

he said teri ola cancel. — nikhil (@niquotein) April 23, 2018

Cancelled an Ola cab because driver's name was Achhe Din and it's been 4 years now and he's still not here. — Aavi (@poisonaavi) April 23, 2018

Cancel the Ola ride today bcz driver name was modi and I wanted to go Chatarpur not Singapore. — ` (@anubhavjain2508) April 23, 2018

I booked an Ola. The driver's name is John Cena.

He said he's reached the location but I can't see him. — Ahmad (@funsukh_wangdu) April 23, 2018

Canceled my Ola Cab because driver's name was bumrah and he was crossing lines. #MIvRR — Manish (@Man_isssh) April 22, 2018

Mishra has defended his actions and shared what he said was a message from Twitter claiming that the micro-blogging platform did not see any grounds to take action against him.