A Delhi communal hate episode experienced by 26-year-old Midhat Samra has reignited discussions about everyday discrimination faced by religious minorities. On 27th May, a day before Eid Al Adha, Midhat, along with her parents, took an Uber cab to Delhi airport, unaware of what lay ahead—her first encounter of communal hate.
The sequence of the incidents started when while loading her luggage, she informed the Uber driver that she would be getting out at Hauz Khas metro station while her parents would continue the ride till Delhi airport—a request that is normal for Uber services.
“I told him I would get off at Hauz Khas Metro Station and that my parents would continue to the airport. The driver didn’t say anything or refuse at the time.” Midhat told FoEJ Media.
“Everything seemed normal, and I was talking to my parents on the way. When we reached Hauz Khas, I asked the driver to stop, but instead he continued driving onto the flyover and only stopped some distance ahead,” Midhat told FoEJ Media.
“I said, ‘I told you to stop at the metro station, not here.’ After that, he began arguing with me,” she added.
As the situation snowballed and the driver turned aggressive, Midhat decided to pay the driver an extra amount, but to her surprise, the situation escalated further—unleashing the first communal hatred of her life.
“I felt things were getting out of control, so I said I would pay him extra. But he cancelled the ride right then and there and told me to get out at that spot,” she told FoEJ Media.
“I told him I would complain to Uber, and while I was doing so, he became very aggressive and tried to snatch the phone out of my hand,” she said.
“He kept moving toward me and my parents, and then he started recording me on his phone, saying, ‘They’ve come from Jamia; this is how these people are,” Midhat said.
Soon after recording the video, the driver, as said by Midhat, started mobilizing the crowd by saying “they are Mulle, they do this only”(Mulla is a hurtful religious slur.)
Midhat told FoEJ Media the driver said the above statement to portray that the family was not paying the fare and to gather a crowd.
“There were a lot of people standing there, but no one intervened, no one came forward,” she said.
“My parents had to go to the airport, so I didn’t have any other option. I immediately booked another cab, but I was scared that the driver might do the same thing again…” Midhat said.
“After that, he came back with a lot of people and started saying that these people are not paying the money. Hearing this, the new driver from Rapido also made my parents get out of the cab,” she highlighted.
However, the Rapido driver soon believed her parents and dropped them off at the airport.
“I hate Muslims so much that I can approve of it…”
The incident came to light when Midhat and her acquaintances took to Instagram and wrote about it. However, the comment section had another layer of hatred, with netizens commenting, “Mulla ji is now paying for Ummah’s (community) deed for the first time.” (Mulla is a hurtful religious slur.)
Another user said, “The victim card has expired.”
“I hate Muslims so much that I can prove it,” a user said.
In the meantime, abusive language and words like “jihadi” are flooded in the comment section.
The comment section took a heavy toll on Midhat, triggering a panic attack.
“I was sitting in my office when I read the comments, and they triggered me so badly that I ended up having a panic attack,” Midhat told FoEJ Media.
“It took me to a spiral of incidents that I had researched about during my former job, where I was documenting communal hatred,” she added.
“I started questioning myself whether I did the right thing by speaking about this incident,” Midhat said.
