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| Arabia |
| Beard costs Sri Lankan Muslim tea boy his job |
| 2006-05-08 |
| DOHA - A Sri Lankan Muslim who worked as a tea boy in Ras Laffan, says he has been sacked by his employers and is being sent home since he refused to shave off his beard. He kept the beard on account of his religious belief. Mohamed Afher, 32, is not the only one who has invited the wrath of his employers for sporting a beard. Another compatriot of his, Mohamed Faris, 27, has met a similar fate. The two are expected to fly home today after a kind-hearted Qatari working in Qatar Petroleum (QP) bought them air tickets. The company when contacted, however, denied the accusation and said they had resigned on their own. “They were creating trouble and flouting company rules,” the manager of the firm said. On April 27, they quit and expressed their desire to return home, he added. The Sri Lankans were employed by a company with its head office in the Industrial Area and they were legally supplied to work as tea boys in Ras Laffan Industrial City. They were asked by the company to shave their beards and given an ultimatum and when they refused to comply, they were asked to sign resignation letters, the duo claimed. The Peninsula contacted the philanthropic Qatari who provided them air tickets and he confirmed that what the tea boys were saying was correct. “They were asked not to sport beards since they served tea in our office, but when they refused, they were sacked,” said the national. He said there were actually four tea boys who were asked by the company to remove their beards last Sunday, but two of them gave in to the company’s pressure and came to the office clean shaven the next day. “These two refused to budge and I supported them,” said the Qatari asking not to be named. “If I am required as a witness, my identity can be disclosed,” he said. Mohamed Afher worked in Madina, Saudi Arabia, for a number of years and returned home in 2004. He hails from a coastal area (Beruwala) in Sri Lanka that was hit by the tsunami in late December 2004. He said his home was destroyed in the tsunami and he was forced to look for a job in the Gulf again to rebuild the house and support his family. “I mortgaged my ancestral land with a money lender and took Rs100,000 to pay manpower agents in Colombo to get a job in Qatar early last year,” said Afher. He eventually landed here in June 2005 and had been working as a tea boy ever since. With two small daughters and an ageing mother Afher is worried how he would pay the huge debt back and how he would support his family. “I feel devastated,” he said. His family should certainly feel devastated. After all, the man chose his beard over them! |
| Posted by:ryuge |