His grandfather had lovingly given him his name, hoping that one day he would grow up into a ‘positive’ human being. Some 25 years later, the marine engineer from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand is despondent on being forced to bear the burden of his name. 
 
 Two years after passing out as a marine engineer from Tamil Nadu’s Noorul Islam University, Saddam Hussain says he has failed to find a job because of his namesake: the former Iraqi ruler executed in 2006. Saddam Hussein was a dictator blamed for atrocities on his subjects until toppled by the US in 2003. 
 
 “People are scared to hire me,” laments Jamshedpur’s Saddam. His job application has been rejected each of the 40-odd times he has appeared for interviews with multinational shipping companies. His batchmates around the world have secured employment, but Saddam remains unemployed despite ranking second in his batch of 2014. 
 
 For the initial six months, Saddam was unable to decipher why he was being rejected. “I then inquired with the HR departments of the companies and some of them told me my name was the problem,” he recounts. He was told that having a crew member with a name that arouses instant suspicion could be an operational nightmare. 
 
 A top executive of Delhi-based TeamLease Services, a leading recruitment consultant, agrees. “If the issue involves crossing the borders, then nothing can be done as border patrol and airport authorities are very process-driven and if there is a red flag, they will check out. If the person’s job involves frequent travel abroad, he might just keep getting stuck or the company has to pull him out of the sticky situation, making the hire cumbersome,” he points out. 
 
 “Even Shah Rukh Khan gets detained at US airports. What is this Saddam in comparision?” he asks. 
 
 Getting rid of the name is proving to be a bigger nightmare. 
 
 Once it hit him that his name was the impediment, Saddam legally got his name changed into Sajid and procured all relevant documents, including passport, voter ID and driving licence, under the name. 
 
 But his woes did not end there. 
 
 Prospective employers ask for his educational certificates, but his university has refused to change the name until he got his Class 10 and 12 exam certificates changed first. He approached the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for a name change, but the authorities have not acted yet. 
 
 Driven to desperation, Saddam, now Sajid, moved the Jharkhand high court with a plea to direct the CBSE to change his name. But since unscrupulous people often abuse the system by frequently changing names, the court acted with caution. Last week, it set the date for a considered hearing on May 5. 
 
 Saddam remains fond of his grandfather, though he feels he is paying for his folly. As one by one his batchmates set sail after securing jobs, Saddam is left to spend sleepless nights. “I am an innocent victim of somebody else’s crimes,” he says. 
 
 First Published: Mar 21, 2017 07:52 IST ||||| Image copyright AP Image caption Saddam may no longer be around, but many of his namesakes do not have an easy time 
 
 More than 10 years after being executed, Saddam Hussein remains a huge presence in the life of one man. 
 
 The marine engineer in India does not blame his grandfather for giving him the Iraqi dictator's name 25 years ago. 
 
 But after being refused a job some 40-odd times, he has concluded employers are loath to hire him - even if his name is marginally different - spelt Hussain, not Hussein. 
 
 So he went to court to become Sajid. But the wheels of bureaucracy are turning slowly - and so is his search for a job. 
 
 It may never have opened many doors in India - and has raised eyebrows and grins elsewhere - but one thing was guaranteed: a name like Saddam Hussain was not likely to pass unnoticed. 
 
 Two years after graduating from Tamil Nadu's Noorul Islam University, the man from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand is feeling the strain. 
 
 He did well at college, and his classmates have already found jobs, but shipping companies turn him away. 
 
 "People are scared to hire me," Saddam-turned-Sajid is quoted by Hindustan Times as saying. 
 
 He says they fear complications from an encounter with immigration officials across international borders. 
 
 Saddam thought he might easily get around this obstacle, by getting a new passport, driving licence and more. 
 
 But his job applications are still not proceeding smoothly as he cannot provide proof, under his new name, that he went to school - and this is proving to be a time-consuming exercise. 
 
 Another court hearing beckons on 5 May, this time to force authorities to change the name on his secondary school certificates, after which his graduation papers will need amending. 
 
 Sajid is not alone in his plight - but he may feel more aggrieved than the numerous Saddam Husseins of Iraq, who feel cursed with a name that was originally given in tribute to a leader whose legacy is one of a brutal dictator. 
 
 Being Saddam in Iraq 
 
 One Saddam, a journalist working in Ramadi, a Sunni city in the desert province of Anbar, said his father was fired from his government job because he could not convince his superiors he was not a member of the dictator's Ba'ath party. 
 
 He had named his son Saddam, after all - what greater allegiance could he have shown to the ousted president, they argued. 
 
 Others had more terrifying stories - one said he was captured by a Shia militia, set down on his knees and had the barrel of a gun placed against the back of his head. Somehow, thanks to sheer luck, the weapon jammed, and the militia eventually released him. 
 
 One friend told me how, as a Kurdish schoolchild in Baghdad, he had known a fellow classmate named Saddam Hussein. 
 
 While playing football with the boy, they would often shout at him: "It is not only us who hate you, the entire country hates you." 
 
 Read Prashant Rao's BBC article
– Saddam Hussain's name is making it difficult for him to get a job. "People are scared to hire me," the 25-year-old Indian marine engineer tells the Hindustan Times. Hussain was, yes, named for that Saddam Hussein; the name was given to him by his grandfather. It turned out to be a poor choice, as the young man has been unable to find a job since graduating university two years ago, despite having done very well in school. And he's applied for dozens of positions. He says he's spoken with some of the HR departments of companies he's applied with, and they told him his name was the problem, because it could cause "suspicion." One recruitment expert points out that this would be a problem especially if a job requires travel abroad, during which he might get stopped by airport or border authorities: "He might just keep getting stuck or the company has to pull him out of the sticky situation, making the hire cumbersome," the expert says. Hussain got his first name legally changed to Sajid, but though he got all his official documents changed to reflect his new name, his original name still poses a problem because it's listed on educational certificates, which prospective employers want to see. He's working on getting those certificates changed as well, but the process is moving slowly, the BBC reports. (Meanwhile, in America, a guy is trying to change his name to Hitler.)