If you thought techie Mohammed Asif Iqbal (grab of Tuesday’s Metro report) being turned away by landlords because of his religion was a one-off thing, think again. Communal prejudice is out of the closet in Calcutta. From opening a bank account to finding a house, people of a particular community are becoming victims of discriminatory profiling. It doesn’t seem to matter who they are and what they do — only their names do. ZEESHAN JAWED of Metro found this out the hard way.

HOUSE-HUNTING

It was the first week of December, shortly after the terror attacks in Mumbai. I scanned the real estate listings in The Telegraph and zeroed in on a 2-BHK (bedroom, hall, kitchen) flat in Phoolbagan. After showing me the house, the middle-aged landlady told me the rent she was expecting and the rules to be followed.

I agreed to whatever she said and was about to leave when she asked me what my name was. On hearing the first name, she asked me what my surname was. That was it.

“My neighbours might object if a Muslim family moves in here. There is not a single Muslim family in the neighbourhood,” she said.

She even suggested that I look for a flat in Park Circus because it was an “upmarket area”. She perhaps meant “cosmopolitan”, or maybe just a “Muslim para”.

AT THE BANK

Also in December, I went to the Brabourne Road branch of Bank of Baroda to open a no-frills savings account and was greeted by an executive who was eager to help me. He rattled off all relevant information before I could enquire what documents were required. “We need photo-identity proof, address proof and two latest passport-size photos. What is your name?”

When I introduced myself, he said: “You will have to be introduced by an existing account-holder.”

But a friend — a Hindu by religion — had opened an account last week without being introduced, I argued. “No, you have to,” he insisted.

I next visited the Brabourne Road branch of State Bank of India. A board to the left of the main entrance mentioned the requirements for opening such an account. I found no mention of the old rule that a new account-holder must be introduced by an existing one.

When I sought a confirmation, the executive at the counter nodded. “That’s not required any more,” he said.

I filled up the form and returned it at the same counter along with two photographs. I received a call from the executive on my cellphone the same afternoon. “Can you come and meet me between 10am and 5pm tomorrow?” he asked. “You missed a few things in the application,” he explained.

On reaching the bank the next day, he said: “Sorry, but you will have to get an introduction from an existing account holder. My senior officers are insisting that you must be introduced by an account-holder. I hope you understand...”

I didn’t go back to the bank.

AT SIM CARD STORES

I was pursuing a report on the easy availability of pre-paid cellphone SIM cards last December when I discovered that the “hassle-free verification” retailers promise is not for everyone.

“It will be difficult if you are a Khan, Jawed, Ali, Muhammad or Ahmed,” said Tariq Iqbal, sitting in his shop on Free School Street.

“Now that the Calcutta connection in the Mumbai attacks has been established, everyone with a Muslim name will be scrutinised before being given a cellphone connection,” said Omar Amanullah, a salesman in a cellphone shop on Kyd Street.

Have you faced religious discrimination in Calcutta? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com