Twenty five-year-old software engineer Sajid Qadri, like his colleagues in the company, has all the qualifications to climb up the corporate ladder. But Sajid hasn’t been promoted since four years, neither has he got any considerable increment. “All my work goes unappreciated. My seniors often pick on me,” says Sajid. “It was disturbing at first, as I wasn’t able to find out the reason for their behaviour. But I realised now it has to do with my faith. I will never be able to prove that my seniors are discriminating against me on the basis of my religion, so I chose to put up with it,” says a disheartened Sajid.
Syed Mohammad Raghib, a research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) says that while he has learnt to live with subtle hints, yet there are tough situations he still faces. “I was going from Old Delhi Railway Station to Gaya with my friend, JNU Students’ Union president Sandeep Singh, two policemen abused me with community name. And when we confronted them, they threatened me saying andar kar doonga,” he says.
However, there is some good news for the likes of Sajid and Ragib as discrimination against minorities in education, employment and housing can soon invite a fine up to `5 lakh and offenders can also be sent behind bars for three years as the government is ready with a draft for a new law that aims to protect minority interest.
The commission is inspired by the Sachar Committee, which elaborately dealt with discrimination faced by minorities. But many believe that this law, if at all passed at some point of time, would be nothing more than a toothless tiger as bias is almost impossible to prove.
A resident of Jamia Nagar, mediaperson, Syed Hassan Kazim sees no reason why his area shouldn’t be as developed as the other parts of the world-class city. “Who doesn’t know that this area is a Muslim ghetto, but there are humans living there. They deserve proper sanitation and civic facilities. The area doesn’t even look like it belongs to the national capital. And it hurts,” he says.
There is nothing about the way photographer Shazid Chauhan looks that suggests his religion. “But things often get difficult when I am asked about my religion,” he shares. “Recently, a property owner returned the token money to my cousin saying that ‘we don’t want to sell property to a Muslim’,” Shazid says.
From the difficulty in acquiring credit cards to Internet connections, an official told Kazim that his area has been declared negative. “There are around 30 negative areas in Delhi where even outlets Pizza Hut and Dominos won’t deliver,” says Prof Qaiser Alam.