SRINAGAR: A controversy erupted after a senior BJP functionary from Jammu and Kashmir alleged that he was denied accommodation at a hotel in Maharashtra because of his Kashmiri identity, prompting sharp political reactions from the ruling National Conference (NC) in the Union Territory.
Sajid Yousuf Shah, BJP’s co-media in-charge for Jammu and Kashmir, claimed that he was asked to leave a hotel in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, formerly Aurangabad, shortly after checking in.
In a post on X on Sunday, Shah said the incident left him “deeply saddened” and tagged the Prime Minister’s Office, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“After checking into a hotel in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, I was later — after an hour — asked to leave because of concerns linked to my Kashmiri identity,” Shah wrote.
He said the hotel owner behaved courteously and admitted that the decision was “unfair and hurtful”, but claimed he was “following instructions”.
“I appreciated his honesty and left without any confrontation,” Shah said.
The BJP leader said he was not sharing the incident to seek sympathy or assign blame, but to highlight the persistence of prejudice.
“Such moments remind us that while laws can unite a nation, trust and understanding take longer to build,” he wrote.
Shah further said Kashmiris had spent decades strengthening ties between Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the country and that most Indians had welcomed them warmly.
“Yet incidents like this show that stereotypes and apprehensions persist,” he said, adding that his “faith in India and its people remains unshaken”.
He also expressed hope for “a future where no citizen is judged by their region, faith, or identity, but by their character and conduct”.
However, the hotel owner reportedly denied the allegation, maintaining that the room had already been booked and that the refusal was not linked to Shah’s identity.
The incident triggered a sharp response from the ruling Jammu Kashmir National Conference, which accused the BJP of reaping the consequences of its own politics.
NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said the BJP was “getting a taste of their own medicine”.
“The politics of hatred that the BJP propagates across the country has now come back to haunt one of its own,” Dar wrote on X.
He further alleged that Shah, whom he described as someone “nurtured and raised within the RSS ecosystem in Kashmir”, was facing the consequences of the BJP’s “anti-Muslim programme”.
“For them, being a Muslim was reason enough to cast him aside. No amount of loyalty or bootlicking can shield a Muslim from being judged by the same yardstick,” Dar said.
Calling the incident a “wake-up call” for Muslims associated with the BJP, Dar added, “The message is clear: when it comes to Muslims, acceptance is conditional. It’s time to open your eyes.”
