In a shocking development, a family with a lady was denied accommodation by three Delhi hotels because they were from Jammu and Kashmir. Left with no option, they were forced to spend night at a railway station.
Arif, contacted www.jantakareporter.com’s editor-in-chief, Rifat Jawaid on twitter seeking desperate help as he was travelling with a lady (his sister).
He said, “I’m from Jammu. I’m travelling with my sister and brother-in-law.We returned from Agra late night and went to Paharganj for accommodation as we had a morning train for Uttrakhand.
“But We are not getting accommodation. We went to three hotels. One of them was Mahalaxmi in Paharganj (near New Delhi Railway Station). They looked at our identity cards and said that they could not give us accommodation because we were from Jammu and Kashmir. I showed them my driving licence, voter’s ID and my brother-in-law’s Canara Bank ID. But to no avail. Now we have no option but to spend our night at the railway station.”
This is what he posted on twitter;
@msisodia @RifatJawaid sir i am not provided roomim delhi bcz i am from j&k. i am with my sister & standing outside at 1 am of night.
— Arif choudhary (@Imarifchoudhary) January 9, 2016
2/4room only because i am from J&k.Hoteliers said they are instructed not to give rooms to j&kn(we had id prfs 2)@ArvindKejriwal @BhimBassi
— Arif choudhary (@Imarifchoudhary) January 9, 2016
www.jantakareporter.com spoke to the Mahalaxmi hotel. After several attempts, the manager Joshi came on the phone.
He said that the family in question may have gone to its sister hotel Mahalaxmi guest house, which is few meters away.
Joshi, however, confirmed that the Delhi police had indeed instructed them not to give accommodation to people from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir.
Listen to audio of Rifat Jawaid’s conversation with hotel manager Joshi
He said, “Only yesterday one sipahi had come to our hotel and said that we must not provide accommodation to people from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir. What do we do. But, if you wish, you can send the guests to the hotel right now and we will give them accommodation subject to satisfactory identity checks.”
But, by then it well past 2 in the morning and Arif had moved his family into the railway station’s waiting room. He said that he preferred to stay at the station as there were only few hours left for their train to Uttrakhand.
There is no comment from the Delhi police or the Arvind Kejriwal government yet.
But Arif and his family’s ordeal because of the discriminatory behaviour by Delhi’s hoteliers evoked sharp reactions from twitter users.
Here are some examples.
This should be taken up with highest authorities.
Is this the way to treat a fellow citizen? https://t.co/WyUBXXRMEr— ??????????? ???? (@priyashmita) January 9, 2016
@RifatJawaid We say to the World that Kashmir is an integral part of India then why are not Kashmiris treated like other Indians…(1/2)
— زبیر خان Zubair Khan (@zubaiir_khan) January 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/ugly_politics/status/685929328912236545
https://twitter.com/ugly_politics/status/685934147458695168
.@Imarifchoudhary has got accommodation at NDLS Railway station Waiting room for the night.
Though action against hotels shud be tkn.
— AAP Ka Mehta (@DaaruBaazMehta) January 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/imZainab_Zaheer/status/685919700518191104
However, the response to Arif’s SoS from Delhiites cutting across their political ideologies were phenomenal. Within minutes hundreds of tweets were posted each offering to help the family in distress.