Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Siasat Daily

http://www.siasat.com/english/news/muslims-take-hindu-names-work

With access to jobs in the lucrative diamond industry closed to them, many Muslims in Hindu-majority India change their names and assuming Hindu ones just to get a chance.

"We would not get a job if we are known to be Muslims," Allarakha Khan, a Muslim worker who uses a Hindu name, told.

"We have been doing this for a long time, and we take great care not to reveal our real names or addresses at work."

There are some 140 million Muslims in Hindu-majority India, the world's third-largest Muslim population after those of Indonesia and Pakistan.

Indian Muslims have suffered decades of social and economic neglect and oppression.