Video Producer: Varsha Rani
Video Editor: Deepti Ramdas
I was in Jahangiri, New Delhi, on 22 March for some work and had booked a room for myself in Hotel Pleasant Inn.
I reached the hotel in the evening and went to the front desk and informed the woman about my booking. After checking on her system, she asked me for my IDs. When she saw the J&K address on the Aadhar card, she said that the hotel doesn’t allow any residents from J&K. Yes, I am a resident of Jammu & Kashmir.
I told her that I will not leave if she doesn’t give me a valid reason for denying me a hotel room and after that, she called her boss or the owner of the hotel. After talking to him, she said that the police has asked them not to allow any residents from J&K.
Even after providing all my valid IDs such as the Aadhar card and passport, I was denied a room in the hotel.
The receptionist said that the police gave this direction but that’s an excuse because if the police had done something like this, then they would have issued an advisory. And if the police had released such an advisory, how did I get a hotel in the same locality on the same day?
A day after, on 23 March, Delhi Police posted a clarification saying that 'No such directions were given by them.'
Statement From The Hotel Owner & Staff
The Quint reached out to the owner of Pleasant Inn Hotel for their response on the same.
"What has been shown in the videos is not correct. We have 10 rooms in the hotel. Nine rooms were occupied and in the vacant room, the AC wasn’t working and he wanted an AC room. We said that we don’t have another room and he started arguing that since he is from J&K, that’s why we didn’t allow. This isn’t the case."Rakesh Kumar, Owner of Pleasant Inn
Whereas, the woman on the front desk claims that nothing like this ever happened.
"The guest came here and asked for a room. Only one room was available of the 10 rooms. I showed him a non-AC room and the TV wasn’t working there. So, I asked him to wait for the next 30 minutes. He refused to listen to me and started arguing. If I did not want to give him a room, then why would I take his ID?Woman at the Front Desk
Contradicting Claims
They are saying that I was arguing, I was hardly there at the reception for 10 mins. There were CCTV cameras in the hotel. If they are saying that I was arguing, they can show the footage.
The owner is saying that the AC wasn’t working and the receptionist is saying that the TV wasn’t working. They are contradicting themselves.
Apart from all of that, I don’t want any publicity and I don’t have any personal grudge against the receptionist. In fact, I feel bad for her because she is just an employee there and the owner must have asked her to do this. So, I feel very sorry for her.
I have a very simple message– if an Indian citizen is carrying an Indian passport and an Aadhaar card then how can they be denied for anything in their own country?
If in our own country, a citizen is being harassed like this then we need to stop and ponder over where the country is heading.
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