Here’s why Muslim eatery had to change name, remove Muslim staffers, change menu
A Muslim restauranteur in Uttar Pradesh was forced to change the name of his restaurant, throw out Muslim staffers and change the entire menu in view of the ‘changing times.’
Hyderabad: The politics of polarisation in India leaves nothing untouched. Right from open calls for violence against Muslims to boycotting Muslim shops and traders; everything has now been weaponised.
As a result of this hate mongering, a Muslim restauranteur in Uttar Pradesh has claimed that he was forced to change the name of his restaurant, throw out Muslim staffers and change the entire menu in view of the ‘changing times.’ Two Circles reported.
“Hotel Taj” which was into the restaurant business for nearly 48 years is situated on Daresi road in the temple city of Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura. With the Hindu sentiments running high in the backdrop of a proposal to remove the Shahi Eidgah, the owner of the restaurant changed the name of restaurant to “Royal Family Restaurant”. Not only the name, he changed everything at his eatery; from staffers to food.
It was really painful for Jameel to change the name since the restaurant is his family’s legacy and it would have completed 50 years in two years.
Claiming that being a Muslim in the city has become extremely difficult, Jameel recalled that miscreants did not allow him to run his business smoothly. Saying that he is constantly looked upon with suspicion, he said, “We live in times of uncertainty and constantly fear the unknown. We have no option but to hide our identity in order to earn our livelihood.”
Jameel has also changed the restaurant’s menu replacing chicken dishes with cheese. Since his eatery has become a vegetarian one after the state government banned the sale of meat, he had to terminate the services of eight Muslim staff members and hire Hindus instead. He believes that Hindus cook better vegetarian food. Once selling chicken kormas, chicken changezi, and niharis, the restaurant now sells “paneer changezi and paneer korma.”
Jameel claimed that he is the target of anti-social elements hence he stopped sitting at the cash counter to ensure that his appearance doesn’t keep clients away. His income has reduced from 5-digit to 4-digit now.
