Jan ki baat brings explores the incident of MP Gaikwad hitting a 60-year old Air India staffer on 23rd March, 2017. This was witnessed on a Pune-Delhi Air India flight soon after it landed on the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGAI).
Remorseless Shiv Sena MP from Osmanabad, Ravindra Gaikwad, posted and bragged about hitting Air India staffer identified as Mr. Sukumar Raman over a petty issue of Business class travel in an all economy flight. He said, “I hit him 25 times with my sandal. I’m an MP. Why should I listen to anyone? I’ll hit again. I’m not scared. How can he question my position? I thrashed him for questioning me.” Instead of apologizing, Gaikwad asked for action against Air India and its official. Various politicians have asked for a strict action against him, especially appealing to the Ethics Committee of the Parliament. Gaikwad has 3 criminal cases against him. Shiv Sena called for a bandh on March 27th to protest against the ‘dadagiri’ of the airlines. He was put on a ‘no-fly-list’ by various airlines after his assault on the AI staffer. However, he may be allowed to fly again soon.
His right to fly are been debated about. What about the rights of the airline official? Do we want our Parliamentarians or even our citizens to be like Gaikwad? Can we be tolerant towards such barbarism by public figures in public spaces?
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