Indian company denies job to MBA graduate for being Muslim

“We regret to inform you that we hire only non-Muslim candidates,” was the email received by Zeeshan Ali Khan within 15 minutes after he applied for a marketing job with a multi-national jewellary exports company in Mumbai.

Job seeker gets rejection note from a diamond export firm for being Muslim https://t.co/NahZXhWAJn #ZeeshanKhan pic.twitter.com/OlNoguYSZT

— Business Standard (@bsindia) May 21, 2015

According to NDTV, two of Zeeshan’s classmates, Mukund Mani and Omkar Bansode, also applied for the same job and they were called for interviews the very next day. Zeeshan, an MBA degree holder, told the Indian channel: “I was shocked. I took a screenshot of the email and posted it on social media… Activists from across the country said I should go to the police and file a case of religious discrimination.” An FIR or police complaint has been registered against the company, Hari Krishna Exports, which has blamed a trainee for what it called an error. “The HR trainee who denied a job to Zeshan Khan has been suspended. The company functions without any caste, religion or gender bias. In fact, more than 50 employees are from the minority community and people from 28 states are working in our group companies,” a company representative told NDTV.

VIDEO: #ZeeshanKhan @twitter Trendingમાં,”નોન-મુસ્લિમને જ નોકરી આપીએ છીએ”, દાખલ થયો કેસ https://t.co/YMwzzdio9O pic.twitter.com/oEiHBewQTs — Divyabhaskar (@Divya_Bhaskar) May 21, 2015

The screenshot has been widely circulated on Twitter and Facebook and has sparked outrage.

Zeshan says his friends, who were eventually offered jobs by the company, have decided not to join. “They were given placements but I lost the opportunity because I had a ‘Khan’ in my surname,” he said.

Denying job on the basis of religion is pathetic .. But I don’t trust presstitutes, so will wait for confirmation #zeeshankhan

— Samar Sidhu (@GhatiyaDin) May 21, 2015

Activists and legal experts say that the company should be punished. “We received the complaint today. If there is any truth in it, it is very unfortunate. We will study the company’s response and decide on action,” said Naseem Ahmed, the chairman of the National Commission for Minorities.

Slowly you will see connections surfacing between modi and the company who rejected #ZeeshanKhan

— Suhag Patel (@Suhag_Patel) May 21, 2015