Dubai 5-star hotel sacks Indian-origin Michelin-star Chef over tweet

His tweet was responded with furious reactions where people who accused him of being an Islamophobe.

Dubai: JW Marriott Marquis Hotel put an end to their contract with chef Atul Kochhar over Islamophobic tweets in Dubai. The Michelin-starred chef posted an insensitive tweet saying, “It’s sad to see that you have not respected the sentiments of Hindus who have been terrorised by Islam over 2000 years. Shame on you.” Kochhar posted this tweet as an outrage to Indian actor Priyanka Chopra’s show ‘Quantico’ which showed Hindu nationalists plotting a terrorist attack to frame Pakistan. His tweet was responded with furious reactions where people who accused him of being an Islamophobe. Following such reactions, the chef accepted that his tweets cannot be “justified” and that they were made in “the heat of the moment.” His tweet read, “I fully recognise my inaccuracies that Islam was founded around 1,400 years ago and I sincerely apologise. I am not Islamophobic, I deeply regret my comments that have offended many.”

There is no justification for my tweet, a major error made in the heat of the moment on Sunday. I fully recognise my inaccuracies that Islam was founded around 1,400 years ago and I sincerely apologise. I am not Islamophobic, I deeply regret my comments that have offended many.

— Atul Kochhar (@atulkochhar) June 11, 2018

He wrote another tweet where he apologised saying, “I would like to apologise unreservedly to my Muslim friends, the Islamic community and everyone I have offended with my recent tweets. They were insensitive and wrong. My work and my restaurants are defined by a passion to unite cultures through food, love and understanding. I have let myself and my colleagues down. I am upset and sorry for the pain I have caused and ask for your forgiveness.”

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— Atul Kochhar (@atulkochhar) June 12, 2018

Chef Atul Kochhar ran award winning restaurant Rang Mahal inside the premises of JW Marriott since 2012.