No entry for desis: A restaurant in Kasol refused to serve Indians

Imagine being denied service in a restaurant in India because you are Indian. No we are not talking about pre-Independence India as was shown in the Manoj Bajpayee-Raveena Tandon short film last week , but in 2015 India. An Indian woman was allegedly not allowed to order food in an Israeli cafe called Free Kasol in Himachal Pradesh.

According to a post on Facebook by  Stephen Kaye, the owner of Free Kasol, an Indian himself, allegedly refused to give the writer’s Indian friend a menu claiming it was a ‘members only’ cafe. However when Kaye, presumably a foreigner himself, was given a menu when asked.

When confronted, the owner stood his ground about not serving them and tried to make them leave. And when they tried to get the attention of other diners, all foreigners, they were ignored, says Kaye. He ends the post by giving the owner’s justification of the exclusion, saying that he ‘was in a bad mood’.

Read the full post here

This restaurant in Kasol is called ‘Free Kasol’. The freak asshole who runs it refuses to serve Indians. I walked in…

Posted by Stefan Kaye on  Monday, August 17, 2015

The photograph posted on Monday evening went viral with almost a 1000 shares by Tuesday morning at the time this was being written with people outraging against the restaurant’s discrimination on social media.

Another friend of the woman who was refused service also took to Facebook to complain about the blatant discrimination.

So, some Israelis have set up a cafe called Free Kasaul in Kasaul, and deny Indians admission. Our friend was denied…

Posted by Chinki Sinha on  Sunday, August 16, 2015

Indian Twitterati were quick to share the story as well.

So, there is an Israeli cafe in Kasol called #FreeKasol that refuses to serve Indians. #Disgusting #Shame

— SSM (@SwatySMalik) August 17, 2015

Shame such places still exist. #freekasol http://t.co/xWSizx61ey

— Laiq Qureshi (@Laiiq) August 17, 2015

This restaurant in Kasol is called 'Free Kasol'. The freak asshole who runs it refuses to serve Indians. pic.twitter.com/tr3OOVNKON

— Devendra Singh (@DsinghDevendra) August 17, 2015

Kasol, is a hill station village in Himachal Pradesh and is a popular tourist destination among Indians and foreigners for its scenic views and natural beauty. According to this video on Kasol , it is known as mini-Israel as most hotels, restaurants and the local business banners and boards are in Hebrew and almost all locals can speak the language. It is common to see Israelis roaming the streets all year long. German bakeries, cafes serve Israeli food.

The restaurant and the owners haven’t given out their version of the story yet.