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DUBAI:  Senior bank manager from Goa arrested for insulting Islam

Police action after colleague accuses boss of making religious slurs and blaming Muslims for terror attacks

DUBAI: A senior bank manager was arrested last week after a Muslim colleague filed a complaint accusing him of insulting Islam.

E.D. from Goa, India, was taken into custody within hours of the incident at the Bur Dubai branch of a local bank on June 7. He was held at Al Raffa Police station before being released on bail.

The complainant T.A., 30, from Bangalore, India, said his boss E.D. made religious slurs against him and ridiculed Islam when he asked him for leave to go to Makkah for the Umrah piligrimage.

“This happened during our morning huddle. In front of several staff members, E.D. mocked me saying that if I was so keen to perform Umrah then instead of the Kaaba, I may as well take rounds (tawaaf) of his villa in Victory Heights,” T.A. said in an interview with XPRESS.

“I was shocked but I kept my cool and told my boss that he had no right to make such blasphemous comments against my religion but he remained unrepentant and went on to blame Muslims for terror attacks including the recent one in London. He also made jibes at my appearance, particularly my bloodshot eyes. He said they make me look as if I was drunk. I told him they were caused by lack of sleep during Ramadan but he refused to listen and said Ramadan was a month of giving but all that I gave him during Ramadan was pain. The same day I filed a police complaint.”

T.A. said several senior staffers of the bank have urged him to forgive the man and withdraw the police complaint but he has not heeded to their requests. “Ramadan is a time for piety and forgiveness but certain acts deserve no mercy,” he said.

Responding to a query, the bank in question said the issue was a “private matter between two individuals” adding that the police were handling the case.

Anti Discriminatory Law

UAE’s Anti-Discriminatory Law criminalises any acts that stoke religious hatred and/or which insult religion through any form of expression. Penalties include jail terms ranging from six months to more than 10 years and fines from Dh50,000 to Dh2 million.