Muslim bouncers in Hyderabad allege discrimination and denial of work at Dandiya events

File photo of a collective of bouncers who say discrimination against Muslims is depriving them of their livelihood | Photo credit: Special arrangement

A group of bouncers in Hyderabad raised alarm over discrimination and denial of employment opportunities to Muslims due to Dandiya events during Dasara Navratri. “We used to get contracts for most Dandiya events across the city. This year most of my colleagues were told that Muslims are no longer welcome to work as bouncers. My team has 10 members and some of them are not Muslim; how do I pay them now?” asked Mohammed Feroz, who is part of a 200-strong collective of bouncers.

“Our job involves crowd management and security. All that is required for this job is personality, good physique and experience. We don’t even enter the premises or interact with the guests for anything,” said Mr. Feroz, confused by the change in the company.

“Hyderabad has never been like this. We have what is called the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb. It is special,” he said.

“Bookings start at least a month before the Dandiya events in Hyderabad. There are thousands of events lined up, but now many organizers are saying we don’t want Muslim bouncers. It’s not fair to harm someone’s livelihood like this,” said Salige Prabhakar, who has been in the business for the past 10 years.

Dandiya, once limited to the western parts of India, is increasingly becoming a celebration of culture across the country with designer dresses, live performances by famous artistes and spending money on various paraphernalia that go with the event. But increasingly in Gujarat and even Mumbai there are calls for Muslims to stay away.

Organizers are said to be profiling and ensuring that Muslim bouncers are not involved in the nine-day event. “This discrimination started on a small scale in 2024, but now they openly say ‘no Muslims’. They want people to wear botta. Some of them put it on, while others don’t want to do it. The number of Muslim bouncers in this field of work is more than the number of Hindus, and we will have a labor shortage,” said Mr. Prabbouy with hislow.nc.nc.

“The government and the chief minister should step in as well as the police to ensure that this kind of discrimination ends immediately,” Mr. Feroz said, asking the government and police officials to step in and stop the discrimination.

Published – October 6, 2026 1:39 PM IST