Reacting to our story "On Eid, Ahmedabad mall charges entry fee from Muslims", some people have commented on social media that the entry fee was not on a particular community. We have also been accused of publishing the report without verifying the facts. Here is our response:

We stand by our story. The mall authorities were clearly profiling male entrants. Those dressed in traditional Eid attire or exhibiting other obvious symbols of their faith, like skull caps, were being asked to pay the 20-rupee charge, while others were being politely requested to leave the queue and get free passage. Like any exercise in profiling, this could not have been foolproof.

It is, therefore, possible that some non-Muslims may also have paid up the entry fee and some Muslims males were spared because, in the eyes of those screening visitors, they didn’t appear Muslim. Women — burqa-clad or otherwise — were being directed towards the green channel.

The officials also clearly told us that the step was taken for the sake of crowd control after the incident on Eid last year when some glass panes were damaged in a fight between two groups of Muslims inside the mall. The mall authorities backtracked and universalized the entry charge after TOI reporters and photographers reached the spot and started making inquiries.

Later in the evening, they withdrew the fee altogether because of media attention.