A Muslim youth in the Indian city of Mumbai filed a complaint at the local police station against a company that deals in diamonds, alleging that the firm discriminated against him and refused to hire him on religious grounds. Zeeshan Khan, who has a degree in business administration, said that Hari Krishna Exports sent him a mail, informing him they only hire non-Muslims. Hari Krishna Exports however denied all allegations, explaining that a trainee employee, Dipika Tike, had mistakenly prepared the letter for Khan without consulting any superior.
Reportedly, 22-year-old Khan had mailed an application letter to the Human Resource Department of Hari Krishna Exports on May 19, seeking employment with the firm as a marketing executive.
His email read, “Enclosed find a copy of my resume. Please consider me as a part of the opening for an MBA in International Business.”
Within 15 minutes of Khan sending the application, the company’s Human Resource Department responded with the following rejection.
“Dear Zeeshan, thanks for your application. We regret to inform you that we hire only Non-Muslim candidates.”
In a state of shock, Khan took a screenshot of the mail and posted it on his Facebook page, where the picture soon went viral and people started to criticize the company for religious discrimination. Encouraged by the massive support that he received on social media, Khan went on to file his complaint at Vinoba Bhave Nagar police station.
“According to the law, the punishment for religious discrimination is imprisonment up to three years. We will investigate the issue,” said police inspector Suryakant Jagdale.
Khan also drew attention to the fact that the company had hired two of his non-Muslim batch mates for the exact same post that he had been rejected for.
“I completed final semester of my MBA last week. I thought it would be a great start for my career,” he said.
The company was quick to release an official statement, claiming the incident was only an error on the part of a junior employee.
“We have fired the person. As a company, we would like to reiterate that it was an error committed by one of the newly joined HR trainees. The company functions without being biased against any caste, religion and gender. Any hurt caused in the matter is deeply regretted. We have 61 employees, including one Muslim in the HRD, in our Mumbai office,” the statement read.
In the past, there have been reports of Hari Krishna Exports chairperson Savjibhai Dholakia, a diamond magnate based in Surat, gifting expensive cars, apartments and jewelry to hundreds of overachieving employees. It is estimated that Dholakia’s empire is worth over Rs 6,000 crore.
Taking note of the incident, Shehzad Poonawalla, a social activist based in Mumbai, sent a letter of complaint to the National Commission for Minorities, urging the body to look into the issue and take immediate action.
In response, Naseem Ahmed, chairperson of the commission, said, “We have received the petition. If there is any truth in this, it is unfortunate. An inquiry shall be conducted.”
Eknath Khadse, Minority Affairs Minister for the state of Maharashtra, said that he had been seriously offended by the incident and would ensure that appropriate action is taken against the errant company.
“That somebody has been denied a job on grounds of religion is indeed most unfortunate. We will inquire into the incident and if the laws have been violated, we will initiate action,” Khadse told reporters.
Photo Credits: India Today
