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Karachi bakery chain Delizia 'taking action' after staffer refuses to write Merry Christmas on cake

Karachi bakery chain Delizia 'taking action' after staffer refuses to write Merry Christmas on cake

Following social media outcry, management says it was the act of an individual and not company policy.
22 Dec, 2021

The management of Delizia, a Karachi-based bakery chain, has responded to an incident at a branch in DHA in which one of its workers refused to write 'Merry Christmas' on a cake.

The incident was reported on Facebook group Voice of Customer PK by a woman.

The post said she had visited the Khayaban-e-Jami branch of Delizia to buy a cake but when she asked them to write 'Merry Christmas' on it, the worker refused and said he was not allowed to as he had been given an "order" from the kitchen.

There was an uproar on social media following the post in which many people expressed their shock and anger.

Senior management at Delizia spoke to Images about the incident and said it was the act of an individual. "At the moment we are taking action against him. It was done in an individual capacity and is not company policy. It may have been done due to lack of education and awareness that 'Merry Christmas' means wishing someone a happy Christmas, nothing else."

The senior management official said there is nothing wrong with wishing someone a merry Christmas and expressed their sorrow at the incident. The company plans on releasing a statement on social media "soon" to address the incident and clarify its stance.

A similar incident took place in 2018 at Delizia's Badar Commercial branch and was reported on another Facebook group, Karachi Food Diary. In that incident, a woman was denied a cake with 'Merry Christmas' written on it and told that it was based on "company instructions". The official said that following that incident there were dismissals and that might be the course of action today as well.

Denying someone something as simple as two words written on a cake is indicative of a far greater problem than icing — it shows that we aren't respecting our fellow Pakistanis and their beliefs. That this happened in a multicultural hub like Karachi is even more frightening. This is a city full of diversity and colour where — for the most part — we celebrate our differences and uniqueness.

Discriminating against someone on the basis of their religion is prejudiced, there are no two ways about it. Writing a few words on a cake does not weaken our own beliefs nor does it mean anything more than wishing someone happy holidays. Rather than excluding others and putting down their celebrations, we would do better to try to broaden our horizons and our minds.

Comments

JustWasif Dec 22, 2021 05:29pm
What a joke... What a mindset
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M. Emad Dec 22, 2021 05:36pm
'Merry Christmas Cake' ---- Pakistan has one of the highest levels of child malnutrition compared to other developing counties.
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Sane Mind1st Dec 22, 2021 05:47pm
I am not surprised at all, at all. This is the mentality we are driving towards to. And we preach other countries and India in particular to respect all religions. Laughable
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Viru Dec 22, 2021 05:48pm
It's Pakistan, what else did you expect
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john Dec 22, 2021 05:50pm
rampant discriminations in pakistan .. nothing special
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Nadia Dec 22, 2021 05:54pm
Shrinking space for non-Muslims seems to be culture at this bakery
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Riaz Khimany Dec 22, 2021 05:55pm
Shows the mentality and how much diversity we have in the society. All of this causes incidents such as what happened with the lynching of SriLankan national earlier this month. Very sad. We should embrace diversity and be empathetic towards all humans and their religious beliefs.
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MG Dec 22, 2021 06:00pm
Brainwashing
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Adeel Dec 22, 2021 06:01pm
Not surprised. Our PM has worked very hard in three years to make us more extremist. And now lost KP election to an extremist party himself. Ha!
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Ahmad Dec 22, 2021 06:04pm
Just use the words.... Happy Holidays and a happy new year, don't need to say Merry Christmas, let's just enjoy and pray for peace, love and respect to all.
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SAk Dec 22, 2021 06:06pm
So sad. In India, any such action would have BJP govt’s blessing. Here people are talking about it and condemning it.
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Pak Patriot Dec 22, 2021 06:10pm
Too much Religiosity is a slippery slope, especially if the teachers are " Jahil Mullahs ".
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Ali Mehdi Dec 22, 2021 06:11pm
Why we are becoming like India where they have killed many people in the name of religion.
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T.A. Khan Dec 22, 2021 06:25pm
There is no harm if writing merry Christmas on cake.
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jg Dec 22, 2021 06:32pm
you have to be tolerant of others religions.
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Ash Dec 22, 2021 06:38pm
Religious fanaticism has destroyed Pakistan!!
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Ash Dec 22, 2021 06:40pm
Pakistanis don’t understand what is diversity and inclusion, still living in 4th century and that’s why left behind in every walk of life.
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Hamed Dec 22, 2021 06:45pm
Making show of an individual incident! I don't know that in western countries somebody will write "Eid Mubarak".
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Sam Dec 22, 2021 06:46pm
Hire separate staff for that
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TenJee Dec 22, 2021 06:49pm
What about the guys religious belief? The majority opinion is that Muslims should not say Merry Christmas, and the guy probably wanted to make a stand against this growing trend. Most will not listen to liberal opinions on the matter and see 'outcries' (tiny but falsely amplified) like this as even more evidence of how out of touch liberals are with Islam, but never give up a chance to lecture people on their own moral superiority. Keep it coming, please. The idea that businesses should be agnostic about such matters and just serve the customers is another matter. In a free country business should be able to decide on their policies in such matter if they feel they are making a principled stance.
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Abbtabadi Dec 22, 2021 06:55pm
@Ali Mehdi Speak with facts please.
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M. Saeed Dec 22, 2021 06:55pm
Two is not a coincidence. If the same thing happened twice in the two branches of the same bakery, there must be something wrong in the management. No business establishment can progress with such senseless instructions, where customers are the supposed to be respected utmost.
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Modern Mullah Dec 22, 2021 06:56pm
Why not we see the things with all the aspects? When company is clarifying that they have no such policy and there are gonna take action. Why to create such hue and cry?
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Jacksmith Dec 22, 2021 06:56pm
Firstly, the store owner/owners need to apologize to the individual that purchased the cake and wanted Merry Christmas written on it. Secondly, the store owner/owners need to give a free cake double the size she wanted to purchase with Merry Christmas written on it. Lastly, the store management needs to provide training to its employees and the owner/owners need to be present at the training.
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Faisal Dec 22, 2021 06:56pm
Boycott the bakery. Stand with your fellow citizens and hold businesses accountable for their practices. Yes this is an act of an individual but what did the management do to educate its staff about sensitivity, inclusivity, and customer service. To have this happen for a second time at the same bakery deserves no benefit of doubt!
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Shabnam Dec 22, 2021 06:57pm
The portion left has serious survival issues, believe it or not!
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Dec 22, 2021 07:00pm
If conservative employees of U.S. bakeries mostly belonging to the Republican party could refuse to make cakes for LGBT people based on their freedom of religion and freedom of choice embedded and enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, why can't the same could happen in other countries on the globe including the Islamic Republic of Pakistan?
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someguy Dec 22, 2021 07:00pm
Freedom of religion means to not make him do something that is vs his religion.
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A K A Dec 22, 2021 07:06pm
Why shock and anger? Isn’t this the reality of 99.9% of the country?
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Erum Aziz Dec 22, 2021 07:08pm
So what is so special in this news?
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SkyHawk Dec 22, 2021 07:12pm
Just kick this Delizia worker out of the bakery. Heartly Merry Christmas to my Pakistani Christian Community.
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Sami Dec 22, 2021 07:14pm
We have failed to educate the purpose of White stripe in Pakistan’s Flag—- it represents religious minorities. What a monolithic and intolerant society we have created!
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Celestia Dec 22, 2021 07:19pm
Thankyou for sharing this :))
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Yusuf Dec 22, 2021 07:23pm
@Adeel spot on.
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Asad Ali Dec 22, 2021 07:38pm
Boat Basin Delizia claiming today that they are out of icing for the past two days -hence can not write anything on the cakes. How is that possible when every single cake of theirs has icing?I hope this is not because they want to avoid writing Merry Christmas on their cakes!
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D’Souza Dec 22, 2021 07:45pm
Merry Christmas people!
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D’Souza Dec 22, 2021 07:46pm
I wish everyone a merry Christmas
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Aamir Dec 22, 2021 07:46pm
@M. Emad So what are you doing to stop or end malnutrition?
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Farhan Dec 22, 2021 08:27pm
Why you are forcing to own staff to celebrate this eve?
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Zyss Dec 22, 2021 08:30pm
@Nadia Yes. Apparently if something similar happened kn 2018... they should have already had extensive knowledge based awareness within employees to not have this occur again. Lack of management responsibility - I would say
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Jo Dec 22, 2021 08:35pm
Our holier than thou society reaping dividends of allowing hatred to flourish.
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Dr Malaria Dec 22, 2021 08:39pm
Naya Pakistan built by IK
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Yaqoob Dec 22, 2021 08:41pm
Have mercy on this soul who refused to write something which is according to our faith. Even American Jews dont say merry Xmas rather they say happy holidays.
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D’Souza Dec 22, 2021 08:48pm
@someguy “ Freedom of religion means to not make him do something that is vs his religion.” Ah so his religion does not permit him to wish merry Christmas. Thanks for letting us know that.
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Ash Dec 22, 2021 09:00pm
@Hamed: yes I live in the West where I can order cake and write whatever I want based on my religious festivities and preferences.
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saksci Dec 22, 2021 09:02pm
Such closed minded employees should not be dealing with customers, for any business to succeed it is called poor customer relations.
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Haider Dec 22, 2021 09:02pm
Muster up some courage to say that these are the actually non muslims who don’t even bother to understand what Islam is. It is our obligation to as a Muslim to stand for the rights of minorities by religion. They are equal Pakistanis and above all human beings. Our nation is really very confuse. They have no issue eating from non muslims by taking Loans but refuse to serve them? In my opinion whoever the person it was he should be sent to some rehabilitation centre after apologising from the customer.
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Hameed Dec 22, 2021 09:06pm
@Hamed I have been living in the western countries for over 40 years. I think 100% of the bakeries in the West would be willing to write "Eid Mubarak" on a cake for you!
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FEROZ BOOR BOOR Dec 22, 2021 09:14pm
@Ahmad if a bakery doesn’t want to write on cakes, they should clearly write it in a visible place in bakery for customers so they know the policy before ordering, otherwise it seems not appropriate.
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Mark Dec 22, 2021 09:31pm
Ask some other employee to write it...what a joke!
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Tabish Scorp Dec 22, 2021 09:38pm
Strict action ought to be taken against the staff... this is unacceptable... he/she needs to learn to respect other people's beliefs, authorities should allow such incidents in future.
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Moth Dec 22, 2021 09:45pm
@JustWasif let me repeat... What a joke... What a mindset.
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Mayyuddin Mistri Dec 22, 2021 09:53pm
So "tolerant"...
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ShadowLugia Dec 22, 2021 09:53pm
More than that employee's attitude, it was some of the comments from others supporting him surprised me.
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Mayyuddin Mistri Dec 22, 2021 09:54pm
@Nadia: not just the bakery.
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Hakeem Dec 22, 2021 10:03pm
He did a great job.
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Hanna Dec 22, 2021 10:10pm
@Hamed in western countries no baker will deny you to have Eid Mubarak written on the cake and people even greet their Muslim friends and coworkers on Eid
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A shah Dec 22, 2021 10:11pm
This is the future of Pakistan
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Hanna Dec 22, 2021 10:19pm
@someguy then he shouldn't work in a bakery where he is obligated to serve customers regardless of religious beliefs,that's his problem
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Imran Dec 22, 2021 10:39pm
Shame on the individual. There must be a legal inquiry regarding this matter. It is a serious issue.
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Hamed Dec 22, 2021 11:45pm
@Hanna lucky for you. In which countries do you live?
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Syeda Riffat Noreen Dec 23, 2021 12:16am
Hats off to tat kitchen guy
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Syeda Riffat Noreen Dec 23, 2021 12:17am
I really appreciate the kitchen guy. Infact the bakery should respect him.
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Rawalpindi boy Dec 23, 2021 12:27am
Arrest that employee and put him in jail. This is result of all the religious parties in the country
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Rawalpindi boy Dec 23, 2021 12:28am
Thank you PM Imran khan for such a religious nation. You have no right to talk about human rights in IOK just look inside Pakistan
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Munir Dec 23, 2021 12:38am
@Ahmad Why not Merry Christmas, I can get a cake in predominantly country with anything written on. Yes there were exceptions in USA where bakeries refused to make cakes for certain communities.
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Munir Dec 23, 2021 12:50am
@Hamed I have had bakeries write Eid Mubarak on cakes, grocery stores have Eid Specials in Canada. Open up sharing of love with all human beings.
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Ijaz Dec 23, 2021 12:56am
@Hamed of course the write Eid Mubarak on cakes in the UK. In fact most supermarkets have signs, even decoration to that effect. In large cities there are even local authority organised Eid Melas.
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NSG Dec 23, 2021 01:20am
@Ahmad here's another typically Pakistani citizen.
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NSG Dec 23, 2021 01:21am
@Ali Mehdi we don't have a problem celebrating Christmas or Hannocka.
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A. Khattak Dec 23, 2021 01:34am
Some of the comments, like the one by someguy, show why this happened. Writing "Merry Christmas" won't make you a Christian.
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Mak Dec 23, 2021 01:49am
@M. Emad grownup and stay to the topic .
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Faizan Dec 23, 2021 01:53am
@Sane Mind1st Regardless, no matter how bad we are, we can never sink as low as India.
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Jacksmith Dec 23, 2021 02:48am
@A shah Respectfully, disagree. Use this as an example to train people of Pakistan. Respecting other religions is healthy way forward.
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Iftekhar Hassan Dec 23, 2021 03:01am
All Pakistani wishing to immigrate to all Christian majority countries should be tested on religion tolerance education before issuing visa.
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Pastakani Dec 23, 2021 03:02am
So if it was an individual why did no other staff member intervened to facilitate the lady. They could have settled this right there had a manager or senior staff stepped in
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sameer jafri Dec 23, 2021 03:23am
@Hamed they will write Eid Mubarak.
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N K Ali Dec 23, 2021 03:24am
Ridiculous! No harm at all in writing Merry Christmas. Uneducated labour should be educated or released from the company. Supervision from management is compulsory. Salams
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Mustafa Dec 23, 2021 03:46am
@TenJee there is such a thing as discrimination which is against all beliefs and laws.
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Arshad Dec 23, 2021 04:04am
Not writing anything on the cake is unacceptable. At least he should write Id Mubarak if not Merry Christmas on the cake. The customer might be a bit happy then.
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Arshad Dec 23, 2021 04:05am
@Hameed Dont come to Pakistan then.
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NK Sologar Dec 23, 2021 04:11am
@Nadia It was nOT bakery Co. policy. Some Nut decided to deny service and tried to hide behind "Co policy"! Should be fired! But revenge will certainly follow!
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Naveed Burki Dec 23, 2021 04:27am
How much misplaced love of extremism? It is a bid national shame.
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Naveed Burki Dec 23, 2021 04:30am
@Sane Mind1st India is officially even worse with BJP and PM supported Gundas!
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Javed Abid Dec 23, 2021 04:38am
Looks like a deranged staffer. Must be sacked.
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NK Sologar Dec 23, 2021 04:41am
@jg l Just so that other religions can tolerate your religion when you MOVE to non-Muslim countries. where life is usually better!
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Analyst Dec 23, 2021 04:52am
The staff should be trained not kicked from work. Please don't make it a big deal and cost someone his bread and butter. If any bakery is not able to write for whatever reason, please buy merry x-mas cake card or candles instead of trolling on social media and gaining popularity.
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Aamir Qudduse Dec 23, 2021 05:07am
It is just matter of belief and You may not force anyone to act against his/her belief so delizia should not take action against his employee.
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Syed Ahmed Dec 23, 2021 05:15am
@Ahmad people also get angry in USA
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NK Sologar Dec 23, 2021 05:16am
@Mark: Or, bake your own cake!EASY!
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Aamir Qudduse Dec 23, 2021 05:16am
There is business opportunity for christian community with jelly cone outside delizia.
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Aamir Qudduse Dec 23, 2021 05:21am
Delizia may consider to offer some discount while not writing anything on cake.
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LgbtqX Dec 23, 2021 05:30am
These same people want to migrate to the West and demand preferential treatment.
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Rukhsana Dec 23, 2021 05:50am
@someguy then he should not work in a place where he comes across different section of the society. Simple.
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Adnan Mazher Khan Dec 23, 2021 07:08am
@D’Souza, I join my family to convey Merry Christmas to you all. Stay blessed and happy.
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Salman Dec 23, 2021 07:42am
@Hamed Yes they will.
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G H A L I B J E E E Dec 23, 2021 07:45am
MERRY CHRISTMAS to All the Christians around World,
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Marium zia Dec 23, 2021 08:20am
Bravo....
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Aftab Dec 23, 2021 08:27am
And we talk about India.
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Aftab Dec 23, 2021 08:28am
@M. Emad Many Pakistani leaders buy world class cars.
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aysah Dec 23, 2021 11:05am
Very good division,
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aysah Dec 23, 2021 11:06am
Very good
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aysah Dec 23, 2021 11:07am
Ok
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Naved Dec 23, 2021 11:29am
We urgently need to increase awareness about the religion or sect based discrimination.
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Anonymouseee Dec 23, 2021 11:29am
@Sane Mind1st and india certainly needs a lot to learn about respecting other religions as there has been numerous killings there against people based on religion alone.
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Ashraf agha Dec 23, 2021 12:26pm
@Ahmad Absurd Comment. Let’s change Eid Mubarak into Happy Eid or Eid Greetings. How narrow minded. Also change Diwali to Dewala, which implies to us.
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Henry Lloyd Dec 23, 2021 12:38pm
Today on 23dec I called at delizia bakers at 12:00PM & they are still saying that we can't write because of company policy's .. I mean discursting from delizia management!
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Akhtar Dec 23, 2021 02:46pm
@Hamed Who told you ? In western countries they do write Eid Mubarsk or Happy Diwali if you asked for it.
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Professor Dec 23, 2021 03:11pm
People don’t understand their faith in its real sense.
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Aizad Dec 23, 2021 05:30pm
When we achieve universal education such acts will not happen.
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Akil Akhtar Dec 23, 2021 05:37pm
Well IF the Bakery now takes any action against the employee they may be taking a big risk with the fanatics.
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Gilani Dec 23, 2021 06:13pm
Naya Pakistan with religious freedom
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noor Dec 23, 2021 07:13pm
"It may have been done due to lack of education and awareness that 'Merry Christmas' means wishing someone a happy christmas, nothing more." Wow, this is the state of affairs in pakistan where things have escalated to such low levels. Frightening.
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XYZ Dec 23, 2021 09:03pm
@Ahmad ok, let's do that for Eid as well.
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Haii Dec 23, 2021 11:26pm
Next they will refuse to write " Happy Birthday"
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Saud Dec 24, 2021 02:07am
So finally! minority got it's rights and a poor man lost his job. I would appreciate if the "Senior Management" do regular training session rather then compensation the situation by termination.
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Zulfiqar Dec 24, 2021 02:38am
@Hamed yes you don’t know. No one has a problem writing Eid Mubarak in western countries. They don’t understand what it means, but write it with a smile.
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mukul Dec 24, 2021 03:28am
@Ahmad why cant she have Merry Christmas on her cake Thats her choice How does it affect the worker at all????
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mukul Dec 24, 2021 03:30am
@Hamed yes in Western countries they would write eid mubarak The bakery is a busuness ans should serve all customers and redpect all customers Its not the place for religious education and conversion
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mukul Dec 24, 2021 03:50am
@Analyst she has a RIGHTto have what she wants written on a cake You are worried about the employee who disrespected her?????
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Sarim Dec 24, 2021 06:13am
@Ahmad Do we need to say "Eid Mubarak"?
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Sarim Dec 24, 2021 06:20am
@Farhan By writing "Merry Christmas" on a cake is celebration for you? Brainwashed or uneducared?
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K Dec 24, 2021 07:21am
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad: because two wrongs dont make a right.
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Doni Dec 24, 2021 09:26am
Many friends from christians community text me Eid blessings, so whats wrong with that?
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Ash Dec 24, 2021 02:38pm
@someguy : do you think writing or saying Merry Christmas is against Islamic religion? All Muslims: Please enlighten my knowledge .
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Ashraf Dec 24, 2021 03:52pm
I will never ever buy any cake from Delizia in future!
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AAJ Dec 25, 2021 10:41am
Similar case happened in Colorado where the baker refused to write on the cake regarding a gay wedding. He argued that it went against his religious beliefs and won the case in the court.
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Iqbal rangoonwala Dec 25, 2021 06:59pm
These fanatic are number no.one in line to eat the free food from the Christian country
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Sarah Adeel Dec 25, 2021 09:27pm
These are not "two simple words" this is a whole "aqedah" but people with low IQ level and less rationalism will never understand this unless and until they really want to.
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hussain Ahmed Dec 26, 2021 12:49pm
I salute this gentleman,
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