Video: Zomato delivery man forced to remove Santa Claus attire in MP

A Zomato delivery man was stopped by workers of the right-wing Hindu Jagran Manch and asked to remove a Santa Claus attire he was wearing for Christmas celebrations. The incident occurred in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city.A video of the Zomato delivery man, whose name is not mentioned, being questioned by the Hindutva workers has emerged online and is quickly becoming viral.In the video, the delivery man is asked to remove the dress. “Are you wearing this because of Christmas?” the Zomato delivery person is asked to which the latter replies in affirmative.“Why don’t you wear Lord Ram’s dress or saffron clothes while making the delivery during Hindu festivals?” they ask, adding, “Do you go to deliver to people of other religions wearing saffron clothes or Lord Ram’s costume on Hindu festivals?”

The Zomato delivery man tries to reason out it is marketing and he needs to take a selfie with his customers while delivering, the Hindutva workers are not satisfied.

While removing, the delivery man complains that if he fails to wear the costume, the company will deduct money and will block his ID. However, they make him remove the attire and ask him to wear it each time he makes a delivery.

According to reports of UCF, a civil society organisation based in Delhi, violence and discrimination against Christians are on the rise in 23 out of the 28 states in India.

The largest number of hate crimes have been recorded in Uttar Pradesh with 182 incidents, followed closely by Chhattisgarh with 139 cases reported. Some of the other states that have reported an increasing number of hate crimes include Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Delhi and Haryana.