A high-profile restaurant in the upscale region of Hyderabad debarred a group of hijab-wearing women from entering the place, as allegedly “it could be a problem”.
The incident took place at Sanctuary Bar and Kitchen situated in Jubilee Hills. A bouncer at the place stopped the girls, remarking, “Hijab and Burkha-clad women are not allowed. If you still enter, it could be a problem.”
The incident surfaced after a woman took to social media to reveal the discriminatory acts of the restaurant which are also being termed Islamophobic. The news gained international attention in a very short time as people across the world criticized Sanctuary for following such behavior and not even being apologetic for it.
Several women in the past few days have shared their own ordeal on Instagram as their experiences a Sanctuary match vividly. While a single incident could have been passed as the arrogant attitude of the bouncer, multiple accounts of similar cases showcase the restaurant staff and its owner’s Islamophobic behavior and thought-process in a city that has largely remained peaceful and secular.
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The incidents brought the regular practice of the restaurant to light, with the earlier most being iterated back from October 2020. As per the first complainant, her friend and then 19-year-old younger sister- both wearing hijabs- went to Sanctuary to have a meal. The bouncer’s insulting phrases were passed and they proceeded to take their seats inside the place. However, until the complainant- who wasn’t wearing a hijab then- arrived, the duo wasn’t served food and continued to get ignored. After 20 mins, they were served but the staff remained hostile towards them and greeted other guests normally.
They were also the only ones who were stopped from taking photographs in the restaurant that day. “My youngest sister cried later in the night as she had never been treated this way before,” she said, stressing on the impact the incident had on the young girl.
The incident was not only Islamophobic but greatly sexist, the complainant said, adding that as customers, they were there to have the food and not join in on their aesthetics by “looking nice” as per their standards.
“I tried to get people to talk about it but in 2020 no one seemed to care,” her friend said. The friend then posted a story on Instagram on Nov 13th, highlighting this incident, which drew widespread criticism and outrage against the restaurant.
However, Sanctuary chose not to answer the multiple emails and complaints the complainant had sent their way. “We wrote to the restaurant but were ignored. Even our reviews were taken down,” she said.
Since then, many women have started posting similar stories of their experiences. “This happened on my birthday this year too. They literally asked my friends with hijab to leave so we later went to another place for dinner,” wrote one.
At least 6 women have been victims of this sexist behavior, sources said.
As for the restaurant, instead of issuing an apology, Sanctuary downright denied any such instance and took the opportunity to market its Islamophobia-practicing eatery. The same thoughts were reflected in the comments of Sukumar, the manager of the restaurant. “Hijab clad women were allowed inside the restaurant but couldn’t sit in the courtyard as people consumed alcohol there and it was anyway prohibited in their religion,” he said. Sukumar went ahead to say that “it doesn’t look nice”.
While some women said the restaurant tells hijab-clad women to remove their scraf if they want to enter the place, others said how the staff denied them entry in the courtyard as they were wearing an abaya.
Though people are angry about the string of events, there isn’t any clear legal way of handling the case, a Hyderabad-based lawyer Alay Rizvi said, “There is no legal precedent to prevent someone from entering an establishment and as such the restaurant is behaving in a ridiculous manner. However, unless one were to challenge the issue in criminal courts, there is little to hold restaurants accountable to, legally speaking.”
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