NEW DELHI: Ignorance about the northeastern region and prejudices borne out of it was on full display at
Delhi Golf Club
on Sunday when a
Meghalaya woman
wearing traditional Khasi attire was told to leave.
The woman, Tailin Lyngdoh, works as a governess for Dr Nivedita Barthakur Sondhi, an honorary health advisor to the Assam government. Lyngdoh was among eight guests invited by P Thimmayya Goel, a long-time member of the club, for lunch. Lyngdoh arrived wearing a jainsem. The club authorities, however, took a disapproving view of the dress.
“Around 10-15 minutes after we arrived, the manager, Ajit Pal, accompanied by a
woman
named Sumita Thakur, asked Lyngdoh to leave the table and the room. When I asked them the reason, they said she looks like a maid. I asked them how they concluded that. They said she looks different, dresses like a servant and looks like a Nepalese. That was so humiliating! I wasn’t ready to accept such discrimination,” Sondhi said.
“I protested as they were insulting a traditional dress of an Indian citizen. I also argued that her profession is immaterial as she has been invited as a guest by a member,” Sondhi said, adding that all of them left the club as nobody else who saw it intervened.
Lyngdoh told TOI that she travelled to London and UAE earlier wearing the jainsem but never faced any trouble there. “People in London and Abu Dhabi appreciated the jainsem. But in India, I was told to leave Delhi
Golf Club
as they didn’t know our culture or tradition,” she said.
Dr Barthakur later posted on Facebook:
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fnivedita.barthakur%2Fposts%2F10155502123531584&width=500" width="500" height="740" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true"></iframe> The club’s secretary was not available for a reaction despite calls and SMSs.
“These incidents will continue until the mindset changes; and that would happen if NE is made part of the educational curriculum apart from strong and proactive action by the government. Sadly, the Bezbaruah Committee report, which had recommended several important measures with regard to various issues related to NE people, is yet to be implemented. The less said about the behaviour of these elite clubs, the better,” said
Utpal Borpujari, a filmmaker and film critic from Assam.