Diamond exporter charged for denying Muslim a job

[email protected] (The Hindu)
May 22, 2015

Mumbai, May 22: Amid a public outrage, the Mumbai Police booked leading diamond conglomerate Hare Krishna Exports Pvt. Ltd. on Thursday for discrimination and denying a young man a job because he was a Muslim.

The Maharashtra government has said it will order an investigation.

zeshan
“Thanks for your application. We regret to inform you that we hire only non-Muslim candidates,” was the reply he received on Tuesday. After Mr. Khan decided to go public with the company’s response, a public outrage erupted on social media, forcing HKE Pvt. Ltd.to apologise.

Exporter blames human resources trainee

Maharashtra Minority Minister Eknath Khadse on Thursday condemned the denial of a job for a Muslim youth on the basis of his religion and said the government would conduct an inquiry. “We will see that there is strongest punishment possible under available laws,” Mr. Khadse said.

Based on a complaint by 22-year-old MBA, Zeshan Ali Khan, an FIR was registered at a police station in suburban Kurla against major diamond conglomerate and exporter Hare Krishna Exports Pvt. Ltd. The firm has been booked under Sections 153 B (1) (b) (c) of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with hurting religious sentiments, denying or depriving a person his rights and causing disharmony. According to police, the offence is punishable with up to three-year imprisonment.

Acting on a complaint by social activist Shezhad Poonawalla, the National Commission for Minorities has also sent a notice to the company and directed an enquiry. Mr. Poonawalla, also a lawyer, said the incident was a “blatant violation of the spirit of the Constitution that mandates equality and absence of religious discrimination through Articles 14 and Article 25.”

Savji Dholakia, founder and chairman of HKE, contended that the “erroneous email” was “a mistake” committed by a woman trainee, Dipika Tike, who joined the “firm’s HR team only two months ago” and was not aware of the company’s culture. “She did not realise the gravity of her blunder,” Mr. Dholakia told The Hindu. “There is no official policy or rule in the company that prevents people of a particular caste or religion from getting employment. We had no intention of appearing biased or hurting sentiments,” he said.

Mr. Dholakia’s explanation did not soften the outrage on social media with many charging that the “trainee employee” was being made a “scapegoat” for the firm’s offence. Some also questioned her status as a trainee, saying she was a full-time employee.

Well known among diamond circles, Mr. Dholakia hit the headlines last year after he gifted his employees in Surat more than 400 cars, over 200 flats and jewellery sets as incentive on Diwali.

‘Diverse workforce’

Arguing that a “diverse workforce spreading across States, religion, caste and languages” and a “harmonious culture” existed in his two-decade-old company, Mr. Dholakia said he employed 71 Muslims. The company has around 8,500 on its rolls, he added.

There was speculation that Ms. Tike had been sacked by the company as a punitive measure. However, there was no confirmation of this. Asked if the company would take any action against her, Mr. Dholakia retorted: “What will we gain out of it?”

Mr. Dholakia has received the GJEPC Export award for 2010-11 from Narendra Modi, who was then Gujarat Chief Minister.

Political parties, including the NCP and AAP, condemned the incident and called for a thorough investigation and strictest possible action against the exporter.

Also Read: MBA graduate denied job in diamond export company for being Muslim

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May 4,2024

Mangaluru, May 4: The Mangaluru International Airport was besieged with a harrowing message of terror recently, when an email, purportedly from malevolent elements, menacingly declared the planting of bombs within the airport premises. 

Addressed to the office of the airport authority, the missive, steeped in ominous overtones, bore the ominous signature of a terrorist faction, ominously named 'Terrorizers 111'.

The communication, disseminated in English, ominously detailed the clandestine emplacement of explosives in areas eluding facile detection, accompanied by a chilling warning of their imminent detonation. The threat, ominously looming over not only the infrastructure but also the airborne vessels, portended a catastrophic deluge of bloodshed and loss.

In response to this dire communiqué, airport authorities swiftly engaged the apparatus of law enforcement, dispatching urgent alerts to the vigilant guardians of public safety. Acting upon the dictates of higher echelons, a formal dossier of this menacing correspondence was meticulously compiled, cloaked in the veil of confidentiality to thwart any premature dissemination.

Mangaluru International Airport found itself in grim camaraderie with more than 30 counterparts under the aegis of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and private domains, all recipients of this chilling electronic diatribe. A comprehensive net of precautionary measures was swiftly cast, fortifying the bastions of security in anticipation of any nefarious designs lurking within the shadows.

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May 4,2024

Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mullai Muhilan MP said that election for the South West Teachers and Graduates constituencies will be held on June 3.

The notification for the same will be issued on May 9. The last date for filing nominations is May 16. The nominations must be submitted to Regional Commissioner in Mysuru and the last date for withdrawal of nomination is May 17.

The counting of votes will be held on June 6.

As of December 30, 2023 there are 6753 voters in DK district in the South West Teachers Constituency out of which 4520 are women. On the other hand, there are 16,869 graduate voters in the district for the South West graduates constituency.

The voters can submit their application for enrollment in electoral list of the South West Teachers and graduates constituency till May 6. The applications can be submitted at Mangaluru City Corporation or all the taluk offices.

Bulk applications can be submitted by Bar Association, Doctors association, Chartered Accountants Association, registered engineers association for the graduates constituency.

Those who are graduates prior to November 11, 2020 can enroll for voters list in the graduates constituency  by submitting Form 18 along with photo copy of marks card, Aadhaar card, voters' identity card and residential address.

For getting oneself enrolled in the teachers constituency voters, an individual should be teaching for minimum three years prior to November 1, 2023 in high school or higher educational institutions.

For the teachers constituency, educational institutions can submit applications in bulk. If wrong details are furnished in these applications, then they will be punishable under Section 31 of Representation of People Act, warned the DC.

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May 7,2024

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The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) on Monday responded to Karnataka’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) regarding a blue corner notice issued against JDS MP Prajwal Revanna.

In its response, Interpol said that all 196 member countries were alerted to identify and report if Prajwal Revanna is spotted at any port in their jurisdiction.

The Karnataka government issued a Blue Corner Notice on Sunday against Prajwal Revanna, who is facing allegations of sexual abuse by his staff members.

A Blue Corner Notice is issued by the international police cooperation body to collect additional information from its member countries about a person’s identity, location or activities about a crime.

The notice was issued after the 33-year-old Hassan MP reportedly flew to Germany soon after the Karnataka State Commission for Women chairperson Nagalakshmi Chowdhary wrote to the CM to order a probe into the sexual allegations against Prajwal.

Last week, the anticipatory bail application of Prajwal Revanna was also denied by Justice Santosh Gajanana Bhat’s bench of People’s Representative Court in Bengaluru.

Earlier, his MLA father and son of former Prime Minster HD Deve Gowda, HD Revanna was remanded to Karnataka SIT custody in a kidnapping-related sex scandal case.

His arrest came after the kidnapped victim was rescued from Revanna’s close assistant Rajasekhar’s farmhouse in Kalenahalli, Hunsur Taluk after the SIT conducted the rescue operation to find her, the police said.

The abduction case was filed by the son of a woman who worked at the Revannas’ house for nearly five years. He alleged that his mother was kidnapped from her home on April 29 by Satish Babanna a relative of Revanna.

The Karnataka Sex Scandal case pertains to explicit video clips allegedly involving the 33-year-old Prajwal, grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, which went viral on social media.

Those videos began to make rounds in Hassan in recent days, following which the state government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the sexual abuse allegations against the MP.

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