Is Apple Siri an anti-Hindu jihadist? Ujjain VHP says so

In his letter to the CM, VHP Ujjain district president Rajesh Anjana called it a planned jihad and an attack on Hindu values and faith by Apple.

Pawan Pathak, an astrologer in Ujjain, warned that if the feature isn't updated, consumers would be urged to boycott the iPhone | X/@Nher_who

New Delhi: A right-wing worker in Madhya Pradesh conducted a press conference to accuse Apple of being ‘anti-Hindu’. The iPhone’s virtual voice assistant Siri, he claimed, doesn’t respond to the chant of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ or ‘Jai Shri Mahakal’, but it responds to the greeting ‘Assalamualaikum’ with ‘Wa Alaikum Assalam’.

Pawan Pathak, an astrologer in Ujjain, demonstrated before the media persons what he described as a “conspiracy” and “jihadi mindset”.

“One religion is being given so much respect while our Hinduism is being mocked,” Pathak said.

He also made a video claiming he tested this on 10 to 15 iPhones and found the feature consistent across devices.

Now, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has written a letter to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav seeking government intervention.

“One religion is being given preference while Hindu gods and goddesses are being disrespected. Either remove the feature that responds to ‘Assalamualaikum’ or include information related to our devi-devtas (gods and goddesses) such as ‘Jai Shri Ram’, ‘Jai Mahakal’, and ‘Jai Shri Shyam’ as well,” Rajesh Anjana, VHP Ujjain district president, told ThePrint.

He added that people have sought his help on the matter.

“If you want to do business in India, you must respect everyone’s faith. Many iPhone users approached us with their complaints and sought our help. That is why we decided to take this step,” he said.

‘Well-planned jihad’

In his letter to the CM, Anjana called it a planned jihad and an attack on Hindu values and faith. The letter demanded the closure of Apple stores across the state.

“In Apple company’s iPhones, the feature Siri not saying the names of Hindu gods and goddesses such as Shri Ram, Shri Krishna, Jai Shri Mahakal, counts as well-planned jihad by the company. However, when we say Assalamualaikum, Siri repeats it correctly. This hurts the faith and sentiments of Hindus,” the district head of VHP wrote in Hindi in his letter to CM.

Earlier, Pathak called it a bias in Apple’s data processing. He said that India is a large market for Apple, with millions of users. Therefore, all religions should be treated with equal respect. He warned that if this isn’t rectified, consumers will be urged to boycott the iPhone.

“iPhone is against India’s culture and hurts Hindu sentiments. Crores of Hindus across India use iPhones, but this is a fraud on us. Our data is with Apple, and this is a conspiracy against us,” Pathak told media persons.

(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)