Soaliha Iqbal says she felt discriminated against

A Muslim woman says she felt ‘humiliated’ and ‘violated’ after being refused entry into a nightclub for wearing a hijab.

Soaliha Iqbal was in the queue with friends outside a Sydney venue, when a member of door staff asked her to take her hijab off.

She wrote on blog post website 5Why: ‘Chatting and laughing with my mates in the line, I broke off mid-conversation to hand my ID to Paragon’s bouncer-but he didn’t ask for it or take it.

‘Instead, he pointed to my hijab and said “take it off”.

The 21-year-old says she was in such shock at the request that she couldn’t muster the words to respond and felt discriminated against.

Police who were in the area had to intervene as the argument between Ms Iqbal and the door staff became more heated, after the doorman was called racist.

Soaliha Iqbal says shes never had a problem before with getting entry into a nightclub (Picture: Facebook)

Ms Iqbal was told to move 50 metres away from the venue, after staff cited a law requiring those who had been refused entry to a venue, to do so.

She said her treatment had amounted to blatant discrimination and that she had ‘never been treated so badly in her whole life’ and also felt that the police had blamed and gaslighted her.

Ms Iqbal also said that she has not had a problem with bouncers in the past letting her in with her hijab because ‘they know she doesn’t drink and wouldn’t be causing any problems’.

She added that she was angered by management staff’s refusal to apologise to her, who at the time ‘refused to acknowledge that it was wrong to ask me to take my hijab off’.

Paragon Hotel Sydney Australia, where the incident occurred (Picture: Soaliha Iqbal)

Ms Iqbal said the the club’s management staff initially refused to apologise (Picture: Facebook)

In a later statement posted on Facebook, Craig Wesker, group operations manager for Ryan’s Hotel Group who own Paragon, issued an ‘unreserved apology’ to Ms Iqbal.

He added: ‘As this was [the bouncer’s] first shift on the venue, he no doubt wanted to impress the venue management with his professionalism and attention to detail in carrying out his duties and responsibilities diligently.

‘Due to this diligence when checking you (sic) ID and trying to ensure he had facial recognition, he asked you to remove you (sic) hijab interpreting it as only a head scarf.

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‘Understandably, you were taken aback by the request and then by virtue of the fact that there was quite a number of people trying to enter the venue, he asked you to step to one side so he could talk to you further about it.

‘This action appears to have been interpreted you (incorrectly) as the Security Personal denying you entry for you refusing to remove your hijab.’