Acts of discrimination are against the law – simple!

Acts of discrimination are against the law – simple!

The person in New Zealand who said the woman had to remove her hijab did so against the company’s policy and against the country’s laws (‘Muslim woman told to remove hijab for job application in NZ’, Gulf News, July 31). It was this individual’s fault for being discriminatory, which is against New Zealand’s law and also against any company policy in the country unless it compromises health and safety.

From Mr John Palalagi

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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What’s the problem?

I don’t see why it would be a problem to wear a hijab as long as the employer, the interviewer or the potential boss is able to see the face of the applicant.

From Ms Jesson Pedrera Balingan

UAE

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Company policy?

I don’t think there is anything embarrassing about taking off a hijab. Their company, their rules. Being conservative is good, but she should not feel embarrassed because of the society she finds herself in.

From Mr C. V. Ngam

UAE

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It shouldn’t matter

What difference does a hijab make at the place of work, Mr C. V. Ngam? It makes zero difference.

How would you react if the headlines were saying: “Obese woman feels embarrassed because she was asked to lose weight to get the job”? At least losing weight makes you healthy? That would make more sense, no? But, I imagine you would have a different opinion about that.

From Ms Riza Jamal

Kuwait City, Kuwait

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So much discrimination today

This happened due to different cultures and beliefs, but one thing to note is that it’s totally against the law to discriminate against people because of their background or religion beliefs in New Zealand and in most developed countries. The easiest way for them would have been to simply reject her application with no questions asked and she will have no case to show in court as they can simply say she was not qualified.

In today’s job market we are facing extreme discrimination in many ways! Many employers decide to only accept application from certain nationalities only! Or, they only hire men and ignore all the qualified women out there. From Mr Osama J. Al Rasheedi

UAE

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Company’s decision

Honestly speaking, I’m Muslim myself and I feel Muslims should obey the rules of their respective organisations and the laws of the land. She is free to choose any other organisation, but we should not ridicule the company. We should mingle with all different cultures and if the circumstances do not allow you to practise, then we should move to somewhere that will.

From Mr Osman Humayun

Dubai

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She has every right

Sorry, I don’t agree with you, Mr Osman Humayun. She doesn’t have to move on and keep quiet. She has all the right to work and apply for any job. The employer, on the other hand, should just reject her politely if she’s unfit for the job – not because of her hijab.

In Western countries, especially Australia and New Zealand, they are not allowed to ask or judge applicants by their appearance, sex, religion, age, nationality or background. Even to send your CV, you’re not supposed to send a picture, just your qualifications and experience.

From Ms Mona Haron

Dubai

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God’s wisdom

It’s sad to see these days when even Muslim brothers are trying to persuade women to obey manmade rules over God’s wisdom. If you do not follow the religion, than the least you can do is not try to change it for others.

From Ms N. Shah

UAE

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Let peace prevail no matter our differences

We are all humans first and it’s good to see tolerance and peace between beliefs (‘India-born Muslim cop security in-charge of Hindu temple in US’, Gulf News, July 25). Religion is personal and let’s keep it that way. The universal truth is that all humans need food, shelter, clothing, happiness and peace. May sense prevail in this world. Peace to all!

From Mr Ajay Bhatia

Dubai

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Their duty

Everything is going through religion nowadays. Lots of people are working in the police and the army from every religion and no one cares about their religion when they are deployed for duty.

From Mr Deepu Raj

UAE

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Easy and useful service

It is a very good initiative by the Dubai authorities to launch e-gate facilities by using our Emirates ID cards in Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport (‘Now you can use e-Gate at Dubai airport with just your Emirates ID’, Gulf News, July 25). It will be a very easy and useful service. The authorities should expand these services in other airports, too.

From Mr M. A. Mannan

Abu Dhabi

Implement all over

Excellent job implementing this system, so typical of the UAE. This e-Gate should be activated in not only Terminal 3, but in all of the airport.

From Mr Mohammad Faizan

UAE

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Efficient and convenient

It’s a nice initiative from the UAE authorities. It would be efficient to handle all the passengers that are UAE residents in this way and it would be convenient for the passengers as well.

From Mr Talha Sharif

Dubai

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What about queues?

It would be great, but I hope the e-Gates won’t have long queues in the future. I think everyone will have a mobile app or something similar that can automatically scan a person as the Salik does to cars at toll gates without stopping.

From Mr Jamil Tekedil

UAE

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The small business owners

It was a very good gesture by the ministry to tackle the woes of the labourers and the employees of a certain company since the company was unable to pay them. This country is known for how well they look after the labourers. What we don’t realise is that there is another group of people – another group of businessmen and women who after a lot of hard work were able to establish a small scale company in the country. They are finding it extremely hard to make ends meet now. Their clients haven’t paid them in months.

From Ms Liny Suresh

Dubai

Inconsiderate drivers

I have noticed in the past the rude behaviour of some drivers, but it never got as bad as what I experienced the other day while coming back from work.

As I was about to enter the service road, I saw a vehicle approaching me without applying any brakes or even trying to slow down. For sure, if I hadn’t applied the brakes, I would have definitely hit this sedan on the driver side very badly. Instead of being sorry for his act, he abused me with insults. Now this irritated me a lot. Why must people be so aggressive on the roads? We all have places to go. The next time you’re thinking of getting angry, remember that the other person you’re talking to is a person.

From Mr Ahmad Arsalan Imteyaz

UAE

Amazing team work!

Kudos to Anil Kumble, Virat Kohli and his young team for winning the Antigua Test by an inning and 92 runs to go one up in the series (‘Ashwin spins India to crushing first-Test victory’, Gulf News, July 26). No doubt it was collective team work, ably lead by the captain with his top score of 200. Of course credit should be given to our new all-rounder, Ravichandran Ashwin for his performance scoring a century and capturing his best overseas figure of 7/83 and breaking the jinx. Well done Kohli and his team for their excellent team work. At the same time, they should guard against complacency, as last year we started on a winning note and threw away the advantage to lose the series to England!

From Mr N. Mahadevan

Mylapore, India

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