THRISSUR: An advertisement seeking candidates for the job in the billing section of a well-known supermarket at a mall here has kicked up a controversy.
The advertisement which appeared in several newspapers on August 13 states that the supermarket is in need of female staff in the billing section and only Christian and Muslim women need to apply. State co-ordinator of BJP B Gopalakrishnan said the clause in the ad that ‘Christian or Muslim only’ have already sent bad vibes and hurt religious sentiments of a large section of people.
“I contacted the persons concerned at supermarket in the City Centre Mall and conveyed my apprehensions and the concerns shared by several others over the particular ad. I also told them that a clarification is necessary in this regard, but till date the management of the super market has not issued any clarification,” Gopalakrishnan told reporters here on Monday.
The matter was widely discussed in social media as some persons had posted the ad in the facebook, but even then, the super market owners, who belong to a prominent Muslim family here are keeping mum over the issue, he said.
“No one should be denied job on the basis of religion. The ad is in fact against the Constitution of the country and I urge the MLA and MP of Thrissur to intervene in the issue. If the supermarket owners did not come up with a proper clarification, the Mayor should take necessary steps to scrap the licence of the supermarket,” he said.
‘Nothing Communal’
When ‘Express’ contacted, the official in-charge of the supermarket said that there was nothing communal about the ad.
“We have nearly 120 staff in the supermarket and nearly 90 per cent of them are Hindus. Such a decision to recruit Christian and Muslim women for the billing section was taken because all the staff working in this section are Hindus.
“We encounter problems during local festivals, when two or three staff working at the billing counter may avail leave and customers will have to stand in queue for a long time,” he added.
He also said that they got several calls after the ad appeared in the social media.
“We tried to convince most of the callers, but a few callers were not satisfied with our clarification,” he added.
The management would soon come up with a clarification in the newspapers, it is learnt.
Gopalakrishnan said that the party workers would start a sit-in protest in front of the City Centre Mall if the supermarket owners didn’t clarify on the issue.