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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Accused gunman at correspondents' dinner was believed to be targeting top officials, Blanche says
Washington (AP): The accused gunman who tried to storm the ballroom at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner with guns and knives travelled across the country before the event and is believed to have been targeting members of the Trump administration, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday.
Blanche also said officials believe the suspect traveled by train from California to Chicago and then on to Washington, where in recent days he checked in as a guest to the hotel where one of Washington's glitziest events was being held Saturday night.
Investigators have not publicly named the suspect, but two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter have identified him to The Associated Press as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California.
Law enforcement officials who have examined the gunman's electronic devices and his writings preliminarily believe he intended to target administration members in attendance at the dinner. He attempted to charge into the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a chaotic scene that resulted in shots being fired, President Donald Trump being hurried off the stage and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.
“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC's “Meet the Press.”
The suspect is believed to have purchased the firearms he carried within the last couple of years, Blanche said. He is not being cooperative and is expected to face multiple charges on Monday.
Video posted by Trump showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran toward him. One officer was shot in a bullet-resistant vest but was recovering, officials said. The gunman was taken into custody and was not injured, but was being evaluated at a hospital, police said.
“He failed,” Blanche said on CBS's “Face the Nation.” “Law enforcement did their jobs.”
Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.
A May 2025 profile photo of Allen appears to match the appearance of the man in a photo of the alleged attacker being taken into custody that was posted Saturday night by Trump. The photo, posted to the social networking site LinkedIn, shows him in a cap and gown after graduating with a master's degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Allen earned a bachelor's degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He listed his involvement there in a Christian student fellowship and a campus group that battled with Nerf guns.
The shooting at the security barricades happened minutes after the event got underway.
The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. Gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realized something was happening. Hundreds of journalists immediately got on phones to call in information.
“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as the president was escorted offstage. Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.
After an initial attempt to resume the event, it was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.
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