Case against Mumbai firm for refusing job to a man for being Muslim

Mumbai: Refusing job to a man because he is a Muslim has landed a Mumbai-based diamond export company into legal trouble. Mumbai Police on Thursday registered a case under Indian Penal Code Section 153B for hurting religious sentiments against Hare Krishna Exports after the company sent an email to MBA graduate Zeeshan Ali Khan refusing a job to him because he is a Muslim.

After facing flak for rejecting Khan's job application for being a Muslim, Hare Krishna Exports suspended a trainee with the HR Department claiming the e-mail was sent erroneously by her. She had joined the company in January. The suspended employee's Linkedln profile mentioned that she has been an HR executive for the last four years.

The National Commission for Minorities also ordered an inquiry based on Khan's complaint.

Zeeshan Ali Khan had mailed his resume to the company and the company replied that it hires only non-Muslim candidates.

Zeeshan shared his experience on his Facebook page, which let to an outrage. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about inclusive growth, but companies are dealing like this. If I was not qualified enough, I should have been told accordingly," he said.

Zeeshan added that he will not accept a job from the company. "The company has responded by saying that it is a typing mistake. How can they make a mistake of this nature? I will never accept a job from this company. This has certainly demoralised me," Zeeshan said.

Hitting out at the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Zeeshan's father Ali Ahmed said that they have been left behind in the process of development. "I never thought we will be discriminated in this manner. They always say Muslim families don't educate their children. But I did. The Prime Minister said he will take everyone along in the process to development but we have been left behind. We condemn the company’s policy of not allowing Muslims to work for them," Ahmed said.

Condemning the incident, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "If any such incident of denying a person job on religion has happened, it is wrong. Religion cannot be a criterion for rejection from job. Only merit and demerit is the criterion."