A Dubai-based celebrity chef may face prosecution following his now-deleted Islamophobic tweet on June 10.
On Sunday, Atul Kochhar - who runs the Rang Mahal restaurant in the Dubai Marriott Marquis Hotel - shared a tweet in response to a post by Indian actress Priyanka Chopra.
Chopra's tweet came following her appearance in an episode on the American television series "Quantico" that portrayed Hindu nationalists as terrorists.
Here's how the conversation went down...
![](https://stepcdn.com/assets/2018-06/13/8/o6a1f/11-700x.jpg)
"Chef Atul will no longer be associated with the restaurant"
Soon after, people began calling for a boycott of his restaurants, demanding he be fired from his job.
Dubai's JW Marriott Marquis Hotel has since "cut ties" with the celebrity chef, according to Khaleej Times.
"Following the recent comments made by Chef Atul Kochhar, we have taken the decision to end our agreement with him for Rang Mahal. With the termination of our agreement, Chef Atul will no longer be associated with the restaurant," JW Marriot Marquis Hotel said in a statement.
"At the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai, we pride ourselves on creating a culture of diversity and inclusion for our guests and associates across the hotel and our restaurants. We also remain committed to delivering the traditional culinary experience and high service standards that Rang Mahal is renowned for," it added.
"Normalization of hate"
"No more Rang Mahal Dubai for me ... and you need history lessons on Islam"
On Monday, Kochhar realized the "inaccuracies" in his original tweet
He then issued a statement on Tuesday, in which he apologized for his "insensitivity"
The UAE has clear-cut social media laws, which penalize individuals who spread "sectarian hate or racism, especially in connection with Islam and Muslims," according to Arab News.
Over the past few years, numerous residents and visitors found themselves in trouble over content posted on their social media accounts.
"The UAE's anti-discriminatory law criminalizes all forms of discrimination on all grounds of religion, belief, sect, faith, creed, race, color, or ethnic origin," said lawyer Yamini Rajesh, the managing director of a legal consultancy.
Individuals who go against the UAE's Cybercrime law could be imprisoned for a maximum of five years and pay a fine varying between 500,000 dirhams ($136,119) and 1 million dirhams ($272,238.)