- A Saudi man harassed an Indian exhibitor at a Riyadh trade event over his Hindu identity
- The man mocked the Larsen & Toubro booth for not having any Muslim representatives present
- UAE analyst Amjad Taha condemned the incident as "blatant racism" and called it "shameful"
A video from a trade event in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh has sparked widespread outrage after a man was harassed for exhibiting an Indian company and the booth was derided for belonging to a "Hindu".
The video, which has not been independently verified by NDTV, pans around a "Larsen & Toubro" booth and a Saudi man can be heard mocking the stall, complaining that the "Hindu" company does not even have one Muslim present there.
The man in the stall can be seen with his phone up to record the incident, but then lowers it down and starts looking around.
UAE-based political analyst Amjad Taha shared the video on X and slammed the incident, calling it "blatant racism". He wrote, "A Saudi attacking an Indian for being Hindu and for owning a stand at a Riyadh exhibition..bullying them and sneering, "This #Hindu company doesn't even have one Muslim here." This is ignorance weaponised, an assault on dignity, faith, and free enterprise."
He then praised India for being a "great civilisation" and said that the country is not a target for "sectarian thugs".
"Business is not a mosque roll call, and faith policing has no place in a modern society. Shameful. Disgraceful. Absolutely unacceptable," he wrote.
Individuals on social media have criticised the incident. One user wrote, "He is doing this to company L&T, which is a 60-70 billion USD organisation. That Saudi may not even qualify for a job there lol". Another user posted, "Saudi Arabia's ranking second in racism in the Middle East after Iran is a disgrace to all Arab countries."
People also rushed to defend L&T, with a user writing, "He is doing this to L&T, the company that makes ballistic missile nuclear submarines for India. The technological prowess of this one Indian company is unmatched by anything the Saudis have or Saudi money can buy."
The identity of the people involved in the incident has not been publicly confirmed.
L&T is an Indian-headquartered company, founded in 1938 and now led predominantly by Indians. Its participation aligns with growing India-Saudi economic ties in mining, infrastructure, and energy.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)
