Lenskart had issued an updated dressing policy which allows bindis and kalawas, but shocking instances of religious discrimination at the company are continuing to come to light.
Zeel Soghasia, a man from Gujarat, has said that Lenskart asked him to remove his tika and shikha while he was participating in its training program. When he refused to comply, he was fired. Soghasia has appeared on video and made the allegations in an interview with Desh Gujarat.
Soghasia says he got a call for a job opportunity with Lenskart and attended an interview in the Vesu area of Surat. He says that during the initial interview process, no mention was made regarding restrictions on religious attire or symbols. However, things changed when Soghasia traveled to Navi Mumbai to begin his professional training. On his second day at the training center, he alleges that management issued an ultimatum regarding his appearance.
Management reportedly told Soghasia he would have to cut his shikha (a traditional tuft of hair) and remove his tilak-chandlo (a religious mark on the forehead) to keep his position. He was also allegedly instructed to remove religious tattoos from his hands.
Soghasia claims he was told explicitly that if he did not remove these religious identifiers, the company would not be able to provide him with the job. Refusing to compromise on his religious practices, Soghasia was reportedly forced to leave the training center.
These allegations would align with Lenskart’s previous dressing policy — which CEO Peyush Bansal had said wasn’t even implemented — which explicitly disallowed bindis and tikas. It appears that not only was the policy actively in place until the social media outrage took place, but was also implemented, and employees who didn’t comply were fired.
Zeel Soghasia isn’t the only person who has publicly come forward and accused Lenskart of not allowing Hindu symbols at work, while allowing those of other religions such as hijabs. Yesterday, a former Lenskart store manager Akash Falake had shared emails with OfficeChai which showed that he had been protesting the policy since November last year, and Lenskart management had ignored his requests. When he’d complained to the government via an online portal, he was fired. With now two former Lenskart employees coming forward and saying that they were fired for sporting tikas and Hindu symbols, it becomes clear that Lenskart’s policy wasn’t an oversight hidden in a policy document — it was actively followed and enforced, and employees who questioned it were terminated. This increases the seriousness of what has transpired — what was thus far an issue for social media users to complain about could now become an issue for law enforcement agencies and legal teams to pursue over what seems to be clear religious discrimination.