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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Chennai (PTI): Bowlers calling the shots in a format dominated by big hitters is a rarity, but that script played out at Chepauk on Sunday as Gujarat Titans exploited a lively, bounce-friendly surface to stifle Chennai Super Kings before the hosts managed a late flourish to reach 158 for 7.
On a pitch that offered sharp carry, stroke-making demanded discretion and adaptability. Instead, CSK’s batters often opted for high-risk shots without fully assessing conditions, and paid the price with a flurry of miscued dismissals.
Invited to bat, CSK never quite found rhythm but skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s maiden half-century (74 not out) of the current IPL season lent a semblance of respectability to the total in a season where 200-plus scores have become commonplace.
Gaikwad's knock came off 60 balls with six fours and four sixes after a laboured start.
The tone was set early by GT pacer Mohammed Siraj, who extracted steep bounce and forced errors.
Sanju Samson (11) began watchfully, negotiating the first over before opening up against Kagiso Rabada to bring up his 5000 IPL runs milestone. However, Rabada’s bounce soon accounted for him as a hard slash outside off resulted in a faint edge that Jos Buttler pouched safely.
The dismissal triggered a collapse. Urvil Patel (4) fell in the same Rabada over attempting an ambitious pull, while Sarfaraz Khan (0) succumbed to Siraj’s extra lift, mistiming a short ball to offer a simple catch.
At 28 for 3 inside the Powerplay, CSK were already in trouble.
Gaikwad and Dewald Brevis (2) needed to rebuild, but the latter’s impatience against spinner Manav Suthar led to his downfall, holing out after failing to get to the pitch of the ball.
The mounting wickets forced Gaikwad into a shell — an approach that, while understandable, further stalled the momentum. His reluctance to improvise allowed dot balls to pile up, with CSK reaching 50 only in the 12th over.
The skipper eventually broke free, taking on Arshad Khan and Jason Holder with a couple of towering sixes, but the acceleration came too late.
Shivam Dube, dropped thrice on 6, 11 and 22, struggled for fluency before Arshad cleaned him up.
Kartik Sharma (15) and Jamie Overton (18) provided late impetus with a few lusty hits, but the damage had already been done.
On a pitch that rewarded discipline and smart shot selection, Titans' bowlers executed their plans to perfection, while CSK’s batters failed to read the conditions in time, a lapse that ultimately defined the innings.
