A PhD scholar from Tamil Nadu has alleged that he was shamed by an officer at the Mumbai airport for not knowing Hindi but later passed immgiration and boarded his flight. In a series of tweets just past 1 am on Wednesday, Abraham Samuel complained that an immigration officer at the airport was impolite and had ‘profiled’ him deliberately.
“Was just denied immigration by an immigration officer in counter 33 at Mumbai CST AIRPORT, for knowing only Tamil and English and NOT hindi! What a disaster! Reported the officer, hope they take action… The immigration officer at counter 33 in the Mumbai International Airport, clearly profiled me, saw my Indian passport and assumed that i should know Hindi and even after politely informing him that I do not know Hindi, continued his impolite behavior... ,” wrote Abraham, tagging the Ministry of Home Affairs, the External Affairs Ministry, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Office and other political leaders and media houses.
Was just denied immigration by an immigration officer in counter 33 at Mumbai CST AIRPORT, for knowing only Tamil and English and NOT hindi! What a disaster! Reported the officer, hope they take action. @SushmaSwaraj @mkstalin @narendramodi
— Abraham Samuel (@abrahamsamuel) January 8, 2019
He alleged that the immigration officer continued his ‘disgraceful speech’ in front of senior officers, despite Abraham’s complaint to the immigration authorities.
“No one in India should be denied immigration for not knowing hindi! Such a disgraceful and arrogant behavior by this immigration officer in counter 33 at Mumbai CST! Hope this is the last instance of this in India! Officials should investigate CCTV footage and can ask me any details that would be helpful,” he tweeted.
Abraham also tweeted that he did not lodge a formal complaint against the immigration officer since he had to leave for his flight which was scheduled at 1 am. “It should be noted that i spoke to the officer ONLY in English! I never spoke in Tamil. I told him that i didn't speak hindi and that seemed to have offended this incompetent idiot! The same officer let a foreigner who spoke English freely before me!” he claimed.
It should be noted that i spoke to the officer ONLY in English! I never spoke in Tamil. I told him that i didn't speak hindi and that seemed to have offended this incompetent idiot! @mkstalin @INCIndia @MEAIndia The same officer let a foreigner who spoke English freely before me!
— Abraham Samuel (@abrahamsamuel) January 8, 2019
Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, Additional Commissioner of Police Special Branch II, CID Supriya Patil-Yadav said, “We are conducting a probe to find out if the allegations are correct and the circumstances that could have led to the altercation. If it’s correct, I must say it’s very unfortunate that such unprofessional, insensitive conduct was exhibited by the immigration officer. By Thursday, our probe will reach its conclusion.”
The ACP also told the newspaper that if the officer is found guilty, he would be “sent for re-skilling, retraining and re-sensitisation.”