Did Airtel bow down to bigotry? Here's their official response
What's the story
On Wednesday, Airtel released a long statement to clarify that the telecom operator did not bow down to a discriminatory request by a customer, wherein she had asked to speak to a non-Muslim executive. Airtel said Shoaib, the executive who faced hate, was not logged in; hence his colleague Gaganjot replied to the customer. The case gained social media mileage recently.
The case
Looking back: A bigoted tweet that started it all
On Monday, a Twitter user @Pooja303singh made a hate-filled demand to Airtel, that Shoaib, a customer service executive should not solve problem-related to her DTH since 'she didn't trust his work ethics'. Soon, another executive Gaganjot replied to her bigoted tweet. After Gaganjot's reply, it was said Airtel didn't stand up for what was right, and fanned communally charged feelings.
Twitter Post
Series of events: Here's what led to the row
Hi Pooja! As discussed, please let me know what days time frames work best for you so we can talk. Further, please share an alternate number so that I can assist you further with this. Thank you, Gaganjot
— Bharti Airtel India (@Airtel_Presence) June 18, 2018
The other side
At receiving end of criticism, Airtel presents its side
After Airtel's response, many on Twitter spoke about ditching the services and porting to a different network. Many believed Airtel's answer was inappropriate. Facing ire, the company, in a statement, said the executives were concerned about the problem despite being taken aback by unusual request. "That Shoaib wasn't logged in and Gaganjot took the case got read as bowing down to bigotry," it read.
Quote
Shoaib and Gaganjot learnt a harsh lesson, the statement read
"While Shoaib and Gaganjot went about working on this case they learnt a harsh lesson. That their religious identity matters. That they should check identities before taking up the responsibility of a service request," the statement read.
Details
Airtel maintains they did not change customer service executive
Further, Airtel wrote they still can't understand how one colleague helping another was assumed as 'acceptance of discrimination'. "We did not and we repeat, we DID NOT change the advisor because of the unfathomable request from the said customer," said Airtel. The telecom company said they would continue to train executives without any bias based on religion, ethnicity or caste.
Twitter Post
The signature: Airtel signs off in 'A Wednesday' style
Did Airtel really bow down to a discriminatory request? Maybe you should read this. pic.twitter.com/Mr7b8Pgrci
— airtel India (@airtelindia) June 20, 2018