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Above the Hate

I was very upset after reading that the Pine Orchard Country Club denied membership to Kamran Farid and his family. Since, apparently, there was no reason given, a person can only surmise that the hearsay of why [he was denied membership] is true: It was reported that some members of the club urged the board to reject the membership for the usual hate-mongering reasons that ignorant people promote.

Mr. Farid, an American citizen who moved to Connecticut with his family from Pakistan in 1980 opened a very successful business here and has been very generous in his contributions to the community.

If the club’s attorney denies allegations of racially insensitive comments about Farid’s religion, then why doesn’t he make public the real reasons he was rejected?

As a resident of Branford for more than 40 years, I thought that this town was above the hate and fear-mongering that inundates this country.

I urge members of the club who are against this hate to drop their memberships and hope Mr. Farid never accepts an offered membership there. What a disgrace to Branford!

Ronald Comen

Branford