Fast food restaurants KFC and Pizza Hut faced backlash from Indian social media users on Monday about posts from their Pakistan social media handles on Kashmir. This comes a day after carmaker Hyundai was caught in a similar controversy.
Indian users posted screenshots of the posts, which have been now removed from the social media handles of both the companies. The posts reportedly spoke about "freedom" of Kashmir on February 5, which Pakistan observes as 'Kashmir Solidarity Day'.
As per the screenshots, KFC Pakistan's social media handle post had read, "Their cravings for freedom are heartfelt." Meanwhile, the post from Pizza Hut Pakistan handle said, "This Kashmir Solidarity Day, let's join hands and stand united for the freedom of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters."
Meanwhile, KFC India released a statement apologising for the post. In a tweet, it said, "We deeply apologize for a post that was published on some KFC social media channels outside the country. We honour and respect India, and remain steadfast in our commitment to serving all Indians with pride."
While the posts have been deleted now, Indian Twitter users called out the companies and posted screenshots of the posts on Twitter.
Earlier, Hyundai was also called out after Hyundai Pakistan's social media handles posted about remembering the "sacrifices of our Kashmiri brothers."
Later, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) in a statement said that it stands firmly for its "strong ethos of respecting nationalism".
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Without directly addressing the issue, HMIL in its statement said that "unsolicited social media post linking Hyundai Motor India is offending our unparalleled commitment and service to this great country".
"Hyundai Motor India has been committed to Indian market for more than 25 years now and we stand firmly for our strong ethos of respecting nationalism. The unsolicited social media post linking Hyundai Motor India is offending our unparalleled commitment and service to this great country. India is second home to the Hyundai brand and we have zero tolerance policy towards insensitive communication and we strongly condemn any such view. As part of our commitment to India, we will continue our efforts towards the betterment of the country as well as its citizens," the statement said.