Muslim woman’s hijab triggers discrimination at Mumbai food festival
Mumbai: In yet another reported instance of religious discrimination in Modi’s India, a Muslim woman vendor was ordered to remove her hijab or leave a food festival in Mumbai, despite operating a vegetarian food stall that fully complied with the event’s dietary requirements.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the incident took place during a Jain community food festival at the National Sports Club of India in Mumbai and came to light after the woman’s family shared videos and statements about the incident on social media.
The vendor said she was serving customers while wearing a hijab when an organizer approached her and demanded that she remove it. She said she had not been informed before the event that Muslim vendors or women wearing hijab would face any restrictions.
She questioned why organizers had accepted payment for her stall and allowed her to participate if her religious attire was considered unacceptable after the event had begun.
The woman also said she had taken particular care to respect Jain religious practices by ensuring that all food sold at her stall was vegetarian and prepared without eggs, fully complying with the festival’s dietary expectations.
She described the incident as one of the most distressing experiences she had faced at a public food exhibition, saying that several people also photographed and recorded her and her family without their consent during the confrontation.
The incident had renewed concerns over discrimination against visibly identifiable Muslims in India, particularly Muslim women wearing hijab. Critics say such incidents reflect a broader climate in which religious identity is increasingly becoming a basis for exclusion and discrimination in educational institutions, workplaces, businesses and public spaces under the Modi government.
