Can a person’s religion determine whether he is fit to protect people at a public celebration? If the allegations emerging from Hyderabad are true, the answer appears to be yes—and that should concern every Indian.
A Hyderabad-based agency that supplies bouncers for private events has alleged that organizers of Dandiya celebrations have specifically asked that Muslim bouncers not be deployed at their events. The allegation is disturbing because it transforms religion from a matter of personal faith into a criterion for employment.
Bouncers are hired to provide security, maintain order and deal with disturbances. Their job is professional. They are expected to protect everyone at an event, not to inquire into the faith of those they are protecting. Whether a bouncer is Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Sikh should have no bearing on his ability to perform that duty.
The agency recently held a press conference in Hyderabad alleging that some organizers had instructed it not to send Muslim bouncers to Dandiya events. A representative suggested that religious prejudice was behind the demand and claimed that some organizers feared Hindu women might be attracted to Muslim bouncers because of their physical appearance.
If that claim is accurate, it reveals something even more disturbing: prejudice being dressed up as a security concern.
The agency has appealed to the Telangana government to intervene against organizers who allegedly deny employment to Muslim bouncers because of their religion. Its representatives argue that security personnel should be judged by their professionalism, physical fitness and conduct—not by their faith.
“Thousands of Hindu and Muslim bouncers across Telangana depend on security work for their livelihood, and they need to be assessed on professional standards rather than religion,” the representatives said.
The agency has also alleged that the exclusion of Muslim bouncers has become more pronounced in recent times. It cited Telangana Bajrang Dal convener Siva Ramulu, who reportedly appealed to Dandiya organizers not to employ Muslims during Navratri celebrations.
Hyderabad MP and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has criticized the alleged boycott and called upon the police to act against attempts to create communal divisions.
The controversy must be viewed in a broader context. Across India, there have been repeated allegations and controversies over Muslims being excluded from commercial opportunities connected with religious gatherings. From disputes over stalls and vendors at major religious events to calls for economic boycotts, religion increasingly appears to be entering spaces where it has no place: the workplace and the marketplace.
The alleged targeting of Muslim bouncers is particularly revealing. A man who is physically fit, professionally trained and capable of maintaining security is apparently being judged not by his ability to do the job but by the name of the religion he follows.
This is how discrimination becomes normalized.
Today it may be a bouncer. Tomorrow it could be a vendor, driver, contractor, hotel employee or shopkeeper. Once religion becomes an informal qualification for employment, the principle of equal opportunity is reduced to a hollow promise.
India's diversity has never meant that people must work only among members of their own faith. On the contrary, the country's social and economic life has always depended on people of different religions working together. A Muslim can protect Hindus. A Hindu can work for Muslims. A Christian can serve Sikhs. That is not an anomaly; it is India.
The alleged exclusion of Muslim bouncers therefore goes beyond a dispute over staffing at Dandiya events. It raises a fundamental question: Are we becoming a society where religious identity determines who is allowed to earn a livelihood?
If so, this is not merely a Muslim problem. It is an Indian problem.
The Constitution promises equality before the law and prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion. Those principles cannot remain confined to the pages of a document. They must also be reflected in everyday life—in workplaces, markets and places of celebration.
Dandiya is a celebration. Security is a profession. Neither should become an excuse for communal discrimination.
India cannot afford to make religious identity a qualification for employment. If the allegations from Hyderabad are established, the authorities should act—not merely to protect the livelihood of Muslim bouncers, but to reaffirm a basic principle of Indian democracy: a person's religion must never determine his right to earn a living.
---
*Journalist based in Chennai
Comments