New Delhi, July 20: Former Army major Mohammed Ali Shah has complained to the National Commission for Minorities that he was insulted by SpiceJet staff at Delhi airport on June 28 on grounds of religion.
Shah, a nephew of Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah and son of Aligarh Muslim University vice-chancellor Lt Gen Retd. Zameeruddin Shah, boarded SpiceJet flight SG 893 to Guwahati.
Even before the flight took off from Delhi airport, Shah was asked to get off the plane, apparently without being told why.
When Shah protested, an altercation with the SpiceJet staff ensued. “ They ( the staff) said ‘ We will inform the authorities that this ‘ Ali Shah' is a potential security threat. You have a Muslim name so nobody will doubt our action,'” Shah told Mail Today.
On de- boarding, Shah found that his baggage was open and had been tampered with.
SpiceJet claims that Shah refused to leave the plane and even when he did, he refused to identify his luggage despite being asked to.
The plane flew without Shah but he was given a free ticket on the next flight.
Shah claims that he was ready to forget the entire incident until SpiceJet asked him to give it in writing that he was told to deboard due to his own misconduct and not because of the tampered baggage.
They specifically instructed him not to mention the religious slur.
“ It is insulting that my patriotism was questioned in this manner because of my religion. I am proud of being an Indian and proud of being a Muslim. I am proud of the fact that I have worked to defend my country by being part of the army. I am an Indian first,” he said.
While in the army Shah had served in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the North- East. He currently works in a multinational company which has transferred him to Guwahati.
Shah is a veteran of the 1971 war with Pakistan.
Taking cognisance of Shah's complaint, the National Commission for Minorities ( NCM) issued a notice to SpiceJet airlines on Thursday.
“ The complaint is extremely shocking. If Mr Shah's charges are true, what the airline staff did amounts to a violation of his constitutional rights,” NCM chairman Wajahat Habibullah said.
SpiceJet, on its part, has accused Shah of giving the entire row a communal slant to justify his own illegal behaviour.
The airlines claims that Shah began taking photos with his mobile phone after being asked to deboard, which is against the rules.
Shah dismissed SpiceJet's version and said he took pictures only as proof of the incident.
“ They ( SpiceJet) think they can get away with anything. I won't give up no matter how much they try to pressurise me. Any person in future must think twice before abusing anyone else on the basis of their religion,” Shah said.
Shah said: “ I never faced anything of this sort (religious discrimination) in the army. But if this is what happens to a secular, patriotic and educated person, then we can only imagine what poor people must be going through”.
