Ghaziabad mall shuts shop over ‘kurta-pyjama’: Man alleges bias, SHO says he is ‘kattar Hindu’

A dress code dispute at an upscale mall in Ghaziabad has left a Muslim shopkeeper out of pocket, out of a shop, and filing complaints.

Mohammad Saifullah, a Greater Noida resident, leased a shop at Opulent Mall on GT Road in October 2025 — paying Rs 25,000 a month, signing an 11-month agreement, and putting down a Rs 25,000 advance. He says he had borrowed Rs 7 lakh to open this mobile shop on October 28. By the next evening, it ran into trouble.

Saifullah’s younger brother Faiz sat at the shop. Both of them wear a kurta-pyjama, a skullcap, and have a beard as a matter of religious practice. The day after the inauguration, the mall management summoned them to their office. The attire would not be allowed, they were told. A point in the permission letter granted by the mall management too mentions that “workers are allowed in the mall premises in proper outfits”.

However, Saifullah claims that the management team – led by Vijay Kumar Verma, who is in-charge of administration and security at the mall, told them that the mall owners had prohibited any shop owner or attendant to don religious attire.

The shop stayed shut for days. When Faiz tried reopening it on November 5, themanagement allegedly hurled abuses at him and forced the shutters down again. The pattern repeated on January 6.

When the brothers finally decided to vacate the shop in January, the management handed them an electricity bill of around Rs 16,000, refusing to release their merchandise until it was paid. “We have been subjected to immense mental harassment – and all this occurred precisely when our sister’s wedding was taking place back home,” claimed Saifullah.

The shop’s actual owner, Manoj Dhupar, says he tried to intervene but got nowhere. “My shop is currently lying vacant... I wasn’t even aware that such policies existed here. I do not like any of this.” 

The brothers say they have been in the same attire all along, and no one had objected even when the lease was finalised. 

Saifullah and Faiz called the police helpline during one heated confrontation on November 9. The police, they say, told them to go to the local station instead – where they filed a complaint but received no help. Asked for comment, Sihani Gate SHO Kuldeep Dixit refused to respond and instead called himself a “kattar (staunch) Hindu”.

On March 9, the brothers filed a formal complaint with Ghaziabad’s Police Commissioner and District Magistrate.

‘Double standard’

One such confrontation is seen in a video reviewed by Newslaundry. Verma can be heard saying, “If the skullcap is not allowed here, then it simply will not be allowed.” When Saif asks for this in writing, Verma retorts: “What I am telling you right now is the order. Go ahead and record whatever I am saying.” He warns about cutting off the power supply.

In the same video, Saifullah is seen trying to negotiate: “My shop is brand new; please grant me two or three months’ time. I will arrange for someone else to take over my spot here.” Verma responds, “Then make him take off his kurta-pyjama, put him in a T-shirt, and have him sit there.”

Saifullah says this is a double standard. Another shop in the mall is run by an astrologer who sits in traditional priestly attire. “I once pointed out – right there within the mall – that a pandit at another shop also sits dressed in a similar manner; so why is this issue being raised only with us?” The management claimed that is “his profession”, Saifullah claimed.

Asked about this, Verma said, “If this maulana intends to engage in rituals or spiritual healing practices, we will set up a separate tent for him – and then he can sit there dressed however he pleases... If he wishes to perform the duties of a maulvi, he should open a shop dedicated to maulvi services. I would even charge him 10 rupees less than what I charge the pandit.”

Verma claims it is Faiz who is trying to give the episode a communal angle and had even called a small group to the mall “to create a scene”. “Look, 50 percent of the workforce at this mall consists of Muslims. We do not discriminate between Hindus and Muslims, but a certain level of discipline must be maintained... We told him: ‘You are free to keep your beard and wear your skullcap, but you must wear a uniform.’” 

A security guard at the mall, Parveen Giri, maintains that the issue was merely the dress code. “The management had specifically instructed him not to do so, but he refused to comply.”

The astrologer could not be reached for comment.

This report was first published by Newslaundry Hindi.

From Manikarnika Ghat to the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, Banaras is being reshaped in the name of vikas. Our new NL Sena asks who pays the price. Power it here.