Doha: Dozens of women were left confounded and angry after they were barred from entering the venue of a concert by Canadian artist Bryan Adams in Doha on Wednesday.
According to reaction on social media and reports in local publications, at least 40 women were unable to enter the premises after they were stopped at the entrance by staff at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
“It was really a humiliation what happened yesterday,” Taher Elgebeily, who was among those who were told they couldn’t be let in, told Gulf News.
“This was not a club where they could ban me from entering. Besides, it wasn’t mentioned anywhere on the ticket or the booking website or the hotel that those wearing hijab won’t be allowed in.”
She said organisers told women wearing hijab they are not allowed in “as it was the Qatari law.”
Venues such as bars which serve alcohol are understood to be out of bounds for Qatari women and women wearing headscarves or the local dress.
Alcohol was reportedly being served at the concert venue, resulting in an unofficial ban on hijab-clad women.
“I know that the law is for entering a nightclub or bar in national dress, but it’s not for banning people from an event such as a concert,” Elgebeily said.
The attire-based ban was met with criticism by the angered crowd and comments such as “shocking why #qatar #nationaldress law is being interpreted incorrectly. No law against headscarves”.
In a series of tweets, Twitter user Rakaposhi @dkc6004 expressed his dismay at the incident.
“My wife is being prevented from entering ur concert ’cause she wears a headscarf,” he wrote in a tweet directed at Adams.
Similar comments flooded the artist’s timeline, with fans complaining of religious discrimination by the concert staff.
Gulf News attempted to contact staff at the hotel and organising company Alive Entertainment but did not receive a response.
However, the hotel’s official handle replied to comments saying they “will raise your concerns with the organisers.”
