Mehendi artists in Jharkhand denied entry to wedding venue, asked to remove hijabs
Hazaribagh: A mehendi artist and her team were allegedly denied entry to a wedding venue and asked to remove their hijabs before applying mehendi at a hotel in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh. Following the altercation, the artists refused and left the venue.
According to Siasat Daily, Alia Ahmed and her team had arrived at Hotel Aranya Vihar to apply mehendi for a client. However, they were reportedly stopped at the entrance and asked to remove their hijabs before entering.
In a video circulating online, a man at the venue can be heard saying, “Bohot dikkat hai. Jaise tumko dikkat hai hijab me nai rehne ki waise hume dikkat hai isme lagane me. (We have a major problem. Just like you have an issue with not wearing a hijab, we also have a problem with you putting mehendi while wearing it).”
According to Alia, a client from Delhi had booked her services to apply mehendi on 40 to 50 people for a wedding. She said that an elderly relative of the family asked them to remove their religious coverings.
Refusing the demand, Alia said, “Yeh toh aisa galat hai na. Nai utar sakte hai hum. Nai toh phir chod dijiye. Hum wapas chale jayinge,” after which she and her team left the hotel premises.
In the video, Alia alleged that they were insulted over their attire. “They disrespected our hijab and niqab and said that only if we removed it would we be allowed to put mehendi,” she said.
“We waited long hours in this heat while we were fasting. No one even told us to sit,” she said.
Alia further said that she had previously worked with people from different communities and questioned why her religious attire had become an issue.
“Hamara kaam se matlab hona chahiye. Na ki hamara niqab se (Our work should matter, not our niqab),” she said, adding that one of her students, Pooja, belonged to another caste.
She also said, “Jab humko koi dikkat nahi hai caste me, toh yeh log ko kyun dikkat hai hamare hijab aur niqab se (If we have no problem with caste, why do they have a problem with our hijab and niqab).”
Alia also expressed concern that if such discrimination continued, other artists wearing hijab or niqab could face similar situations in the future.
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Hormuz Strait disruptions have caused huge economic impact, energy instability in region: Navy chief
Mumbai (PTI): The Strait of Hormuz disruptions have caused severe economic impact and energy instability in the region, Indian Navy chief Admiral D K Tripathi said on Thursday amid the war in West Asia.
Speaking at an event where INS Sunayna, an offshore patrol vessel, set sail from Mumbai as Indian Ocean Ship (IOS) Sagar, the admiral said competition at sea has no longer remained confined to oil and energy.
It is now expanding towards resources that will shape future growth - such as rare earth elements, critical minerals, new fishing grounds and even data, he said.
The West Asia crisis began on February 28 after a joint attack by the US and Israel on Iran.
Iran's strikes on its neighbours along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world's energy supplies with effects far beyond West Asia.
"With the conflict in West Asia well into its fifth week, the disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have caused severe economic impact and energy instability in the region," Tripathi said.
There is significant increase in the marine survey, deep-sea research activity, and Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU), often encroaching upon the sovereign rights of littoral nations and exploiting gaps in monitoring and enforcement, he said.
Alongside these, threats such as piracy, armed robbery and narco-trafficking backed by unimpeded access of advanced technology to non-state actors, have also become more complex and challenging to counter, the Navy chief pointed out.
Last year alone, the Indian Ocean Region witnessed a staggering 3,700 maritime incidents of varying nature, the admiral said.
Additionally, narcotics seizures in the region exceeded USD 1 billion USD in 2025, highlighting the persistence and spread of such challenges in the region, he said.
