An article in the Hindustan Times, "Only Non-Muslims for Can Apply for US Base Job," makes the startling claim that a classified advertisement placed in the national Indian dailies invites applications from "non-Muslims only" for maintenance jobs at a U.S. base in northern Kuwait.
The US base "urgently requires" lift operators, store keepers, clerks, typists, security guards and drivers. The advertisement insists that the applicants, besides being non-Muslims, should speak English and be below 35. The advertisement was issued by Indian head-hunters Rehman Enterprises and Continental Mercantile. Executives of these firms said they were representing a Kuwaiti company, Marafi, which has a "maintenance contract" with the US army. "The Americans are strict that we should only process applications sent in by non-Muslims," Rehman Enterprises' head Abdul Rehman told the Hindustan Times on Wednesday.
Comment: I suspect that Abdul Rehman took the impolitic step of turning informal guidance into formal policy. (March 27, 2003)
