At Goa Airport, TN woman asked to learn Hindi by CISF cops

CHENNAI: A Tamil Nadu woman who was returning home after a family vacation in Goa had a bitter end to her trip after the CISF personnel at the security check-in at Dabolim Airport, Goa asked her to learn Hindi when she couldn’t understand their instructions

When the passenger told the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) personnel that she did not know Hindi, the CISF personnel argued that Hindi is the national language and asked the passenger to "Google".

Recalling her ordeal, Sharmilaa Rajasekar (34) of Chennai, an engineer, told DT Next that she was keeping her bags for security check-in for her 8 30 pm flight to Chennai when a CISF cop in the queue for women, asked her to take another tray in Hindi, which the passenger did not understand.

"I told them I do not know Hindi, for which the security team mocked at me and asked me where I am from. When I replied, I am from Tamil Nadu, the cop asked if Tamil Nadu is in India and told me that Hindi is the national language and I must learn," Sharmilaa said.

The passenger however stood her ground and pointed out that Hindi is only the official language and not a national language to which she was told to Google. "I was with my three-year-old daughter and I went ahead with the security check, took my phone, googled and showed the lady officer that Hindi is only the official language," Sharmilaa said and added, "The way I was treated was very inhuman and culturally insensitive."

Before boarding the flight, the passenger knocked on the doors of the CISF supervisor and registered an oral complaint. "To the officer's credit, he apologized to me and felt sorry for what I went through," she said. She also sent an e-mail complaint to the airport grievance officer.

In her complaint, Sharmilaa explained the sequence of events and stated that it was disconcerting to witness incidents where individuals are subjected to humiliation based on their language preferences and urged the authorities to educate airport officials on cultural sensitivity and ensure that such incidents do not happen to any other individual. "In a place like Goa, which attracts tourists from across the country, such behaviour was appalling," Sharmilaa told DT Next.

When DT Next contacted the Public Grievance Officer, Goa Airport, George Varughese, the official confirmed that his office had received the complaint and they have forwarded it to the CISF team seeking an explanation. "Once we get the response, we will forward it to the passenger," George Varughese said.

Sharmilaa said that she will also be filing a complaint with the CISF headquarters. "I have nothing against any individual official. But, an institution should sensitize its personnel on the cultural and language diversity of the nation," Sharmilaa said.