Sohan Roy, a Malayali and prominent Indian businessman in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has apologised for "unintentionally hurting religious sentiments" through his poem, which alluded to a Muslim religious group, according to a media report.
Sohan, the founder chairman of Sharjah-based Aries Group and the director of Malayalam sci-fi movie Dam999 (2011), has been posting a series of poems in video formats on his social media accounts. In his Malayalam poem titled 'Viddi Janman' (Fool's life), Roy said religion had made people blind as they were ignoring coronavirus restrictions in the name of God. The poem went viral within days of being posted on the internet.
However, after facing severe backlash, he removed it from his Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. He also apologised for his post in a Facebook live video on Saturday, The Gulf News reported.
Though the poem did not name any community, images accompanying it in the background showed an Islamic preacher leading a crowd of blindfolded men wearing kurta-pyjama and skull caps.
The illustration reportedly alluded to the members of the Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic missionary group that has been facing backlash for conducting a massive religious gathering in New Delhi and furthering the spread of COVID-19.
Roy said the image used with the poem was a mistake on part of his graphic designer based in Kerala.
"There was no malicious intent. It was an honest mistake. That said, I take full responsibility for what has happened. I am sorry if I have unknowingly hurt any religious sentiments. I don't want to be dragged into a controversy.
"As soon as I realised that people had been offended, I did a Facebook live video and apologised," Roy was quoted as saying by the paper.
He told Gulf News that his poem poked fun at the religious heads in India who did not take the lockdown restrictions seriously. “These preachers are not just Muslims as there have been many mass gatherings in Hindu temples as well,” he claimed.
The 53-year-old businessman said that a member from his public relations team in India recites the poem after he pens it. The team also adds special effects before posting it online. He also added that he has been contributing to the Indian government’s efforts to fight COVID-19 by giving his house as a quarantine facility, providing ventilators and masks and even delivering food to those who have been affected by the lockdown.
(With inputs from PTI)