Indian restaurant shuts down after manager denies entry to woman wearing hijab

Authorities in Bahrain shut down an Indian restaurant after its manager allegedly denied entry to a woman wearing a hijab. The incident occurred at Bahrain Lanterns, a restaurant in the Adliya area of the country's capital Manama last week on Thursday.

According to a report in News of Bahrain, the incident came to light after a video of the staff denying entry to a woman wearing a hijab, went viral on social media. The woman's friend, Mariam, later spoke about how her friend was stopped because she was wearing the head covering.

The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) has ordered a probe into the incident. "We reject all actions that discriminate against people, especially regarding their national identity," it said.

The authorities have asked all such outlets to avoid enforcing policies that violate the country's laws and added that the action has been taken in accordance with Decree-Law Number 15 of 1986, which deals with "tourism-related establishments."

Meanwhile, the Lanterns restaurant has suspended the manager in question and apologised for the incident. It has also now offered Bahraini citizens to have complimentary food at the restaurant this month "as a goodwill gesture."

"Everyone is welcome to Lanterns as how it has been for more than 35 years that we have been serving all nationalities in the beautiful Kingdom of Bahrain," the restaurant said in an Instagram post.

"In this instance, a mistake has been made by a manager who has been suspended and this doesn't represent who we are. We have suspended the duty manager based on our investigation," it added.

This comes in the backdrop of an Indian High Court banning Muslim girls from wearing hijab in schools and colleges in the state of Karnataka.

The activists and students had then expressed apprehension that such an order will have repercussions and may see Muslim women being attacked.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governs the Karnataka state and several prominent members have thrown their support behind the ban.