Shiv Sena MPs ‘force’ fasting Muslim staffer to eat chapati at Maharashtra Sadan Delhi
A group of around 11 Shiv Sena MPs, apparently angry over not being served Maharashtrian food, allegedly forced a Muslim catering superviser who was fasting for Ramzan to eat a chapati at the new Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi last week.
Within hours, IRCTC, the Indian Railways subsidiary that was catering for the Sadan, stopped all operations in protest, and complained in writing to the Maharashtra Resident Commissioner, saying the employee, Arshad Zubair S, had been “deeply pained and hurt… as religious sentiments are attached”.
letter sent to Maharashtra chief secretary J Saharia has named the 11 Shiv Sena MPs as Sanjay Raut (Rajya Sabha), Anandrao Adsul (Amravati), Rajan Vichare (Thane), Arvind Sawant (Mumbai-South), Hemant Godse (Nashik), Krupal Tumane (Ramtek), Ravindra Gaikwad (Osmanabad), Vinayak Raut (Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg), Shivaji Adhalrao Patil (Shirur), Rahul Shewale (Mumbai-South Central) and Shrikant Shinde (Kalyan).
IRCTC, the Indian Railways subsidiary that was catering for the Sadan, has stopped all operations in protest, and complained to the Maharashtra resident commissioner Bipin Mallick.
IRCTC deputy general manager Shankar Malhotra wrote an email to Mallick on July 17 saying the MPs misbehaved with the staff at the public dining and forced the resident manager Arshad to eat a chapati.
“The specific incident happened with the Resident Manager/IRCTC, Sh. Arshad who was forced to consume full chapati whilst he was having fast on the eve of Ramzan. The concerned has been deeply pained and hurt on this account as religious sentiments are attached,” Malhotra wrote.
Arshad too has complained to the resident commissioner.
“All the guests along with media reporters and staffs of Maharashtra Sadan got into kitchen where I was getting the orders prepared. They caught me and put the chapati into my mouth. I was wearing a formal uniform set as prescribed by IRCTC and everybody in the panel also knew my name as ‘Arshad’ as I was wearing the name tag. Even then they inserted chapati in my mouth which caused my fast to break on the eve of Ramzan. I was hurt with the thing they have done as religious sentiments are concerned,” Arshad said.
resident commissioner Mallick has sent a letter of apology to IRCTC expressing “his shock” at the incident.
The manager of the Sadan in his report about the incident has said “the mob”, which included the MPs’ supporters and members of the media, damaged the resident commissioner’s office.
“The mob threatened to break the glass door of RC’s chamber in New Maharashtra Sadan, forced an employee to open the door, occupied the cabin and started shouting slogans etc. Thereafter, the mob broke the wall clock in RC’s cabin and wrote ‘Jai Maharashtra’ on the wall,” the manager said in his report.
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