TORONTO – A Canadian reporter has caused uproar on Twitter with regard to his tweet on seeing Muslim women outside a lingerie shop, drawing accusations for portraying the women as if they are not normal human beings.

The dilemma started after Michael Kane, a reporter for Business News Network (BNN) in Toronto, tweeted the following observation.

“I’m just a reporter: saw two modestly-dressed women with religious headgear come out of Victoria’s Secret store in the Eaton Centre,” he wrote.

Kane later said his statement was meant to “celebrate diversity” and described it as a “joyful observation” of the complexities of multicultural life.

Yet, he came under fire on Twitter as many questioned whether seeing Muslim women  shopping for underwear was interesting enough to warrant a social media post.

Mocking uses of the phrase “I’m just a reporter” began to appear.

Kane responded to some of the replies after he was inundated by the online reaction.

In one of his replies he wrote, “Your thoughts are to be respected. But you read too much into mine. I observe. Do not judge. I suggest people do not judge”.

He argued that he was highlighting and celebrating what he described as Canada’s diversity.

It isn’t the first time in Canada that the issue of Muslim women and lingerie has caused a stir.

In 2012 a Canadian photographer Sooraya Graham, had her photograph removed from public display at a British Columbia university.

The photo depicted a woman in niqab holding a flower-embossed bra while folding laundry.

Lingerie shops are, contrary to stereotypes, common in Muslim countries, where sex and procreation for married people are often encouraged by religious teaching.

A recent guide to sex was published last month called “The Muslimah Sex Manual: A Halal Guide to Mind Blowing Sex”, written by a Muslim woman for Muslim women.