Minister of State (MoS) for Home Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday hit out at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) for denying entry to a Khasi woman from Meghalaya because she was dressed in traditional attire.
Mr. Rijiju said he had spoken to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik and asked him to probe charges of “racial discrimination”. “It is a clear case of racial discrimination. The incident smacks of elitist mindset that will destroy the social fabric of India,” he said.
“If an Indian goes to a foreign country and is thrown out of a train for the colour of his/her skin, how would we feel? This is happening in India. How can you discriminate on the basis of attire?” Mr. Rijiju said.
“I will speak to the Urban Development Ministry on how such privileges can be given to people with such mindsets,” he said about the club, which occupies prime land in the heart of the Capital. The Ministry has sought a report from the DGC.
On Sunday, Tailin Lyngdoh, governess to Nivedita Barthakur Sondhi, a Health Advisor in the Assam government, was allegedly asked by club staffers to leave because her attire looked like a “maid’s uniform”.
“They told me to leave the dining hall as maids were not allowed. They were very rude. I felt ashamed and angry. They also told me that I look like a Nepali. I have been to many countries, but this has never happened to me. Now it has happened to me in Delhi,” said Ms. Lyngdoh. Ms. Sondhi said that Ms. Lyngdoh had been wearing a jainsem , a traditional Khasi outfit.
DGC apologises
The DGC issued a statement saying it had apologised to the club member who had invited Ms. Sondhi and her son’s governess Ms. Lyngdoh to lunch. It also said that “an undesirable attempt” was being made to give the incident a “political and cultural overtone”.
In its statement, the DGC said that the management had “immediately” investigated the incident and it had emerged that the matter “could have been handled in a much better way by the staff members”.
The DGC added that the “guests were not asked to leave the club premises”.
The club saidd that the member had “unconditionally” accepted its apology.
Ms Sondhi said neither she nor Ms. Lyngdoh had been contacted by the club or received an apology from it.
Ms. Sondhi added the issue was not about the “dress code” but about the “hallowed club” humiliating a woman because she looked different and dressed differently.
In a Facebook post addressed to the president of the club, Ms. Sondhi said that the incident occurred because Delhi’s elite are too embarrassed to sit with their domestic help and refuse to treat them as equals.
“This is about your colonial hangover, which refuses to treat citizens of India equally and as per the Constitution. That’s what this is about,” she wrote.
