In an incident quite outlandish for the country’s cultural capital — ruled by a Government that a few years ago introduced stipends for the Imams — a man from the minority community was reportedly stripped of his job for keeping a beard.
More appallingly, repeated complaints to the police and communications to the State Government yielded little results. Md Ismail, a middle rung executive working with a private infotech company, has complained that he was thrown out of his company not on account of his performance but for keeping a beard that he grew after coming back from Haj last year.
Ismail, a resident of south-eastern parts of Kolkata, worked for a premium infotech company at the upmarket Salt lake area. “Everything went fine till last September even as I got regular increments and even was sent abroad with special responsibilities. Things only changed when I returned from Haj and grew beards,” he complains adding he was not only stopped from entering his office “till you are clean-shaven” but also his dues till date were withheld by the company.
“When I confronted them in the month of March I was termed a terrorist and thrown out of the premises. When I approached the police they not only registered any FIR but also forced me to strike a compromise with the authorities,” he alleged.
Ismail wrote to the appropriate authorities at Nabanna, “about the ill-treatment I got and seeking reddressal but in vain” he said. R Agarwal one of the directors of the company though said that there was some kind of rift between the two sides and refused to append communal undertones to it.