Indian scientist says he was refused entry to temple in US after being told ‘You don’t look Hindu’

An Indian scientist claims he and his friends were refused entry to a traditional Hindu dance event (Garba) after its organizers told them: “You don’t look Hindu” and insisted they belonged to other religions.

Dr Karan Jani, a known astrophysicist from the western Indian state of Gujarat, posted a video on social media purportedly showing him being kept from entering the temple in Atlanta, despite claiming he’d been visiting it for the past six years.

Recounting the alleged ordeal in a Twitter thread that went viral, Jani claimed he had gone to the temple with a group of friends for a traditional Hindu event, but that organizers banned them from entering on the basis they didn’t look genuinely Hindu.

"Year 2018 and Shakti Mandir in Atlanta, USA denied me and my friends entry from playing garba because: 'You don’t look Hindu and last name in your IDs don’t sound Hindu," he said on Twitter.

He went on to claim that despite the group’s efforts to prove their identity, the organizers kept affirming they belonged to a different religion. The scientist alleged that a friend was told by one of the staffers that she is no Hindu, but a follower of Ismailism, a branch of Shia Muslim.

The friends showed their IDs, which bear an Indian emblem, the scientist claimed, and kept speaking to the organizers in Gujarati, but were nonetheless still failed to be let in.

He tweeted: “Our IDs had Indian Emblem. Yes emblem with “Satyamev Jayate” right?

“Apparently, it didn’t have our religion.

“Our caste. It was embarrassing. I had tears in my eyes saying [to] them: ‘I come here to play Garba fr last 6 years. How could you not let\zz [sic] us in because of last name’”.

And to top it off, the scientist accused the club of refusing the group entry while paradoxically letting in “non-Indians.” He did, however, stress that that should “of course” been the case.

The scientist has, according to the Times of India, received an email of apology from the temple’s management for the discrimination they faced.

“He [manager] said it was miscommunication on the part of the volunteers.”

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