E.R. RAMACHANDRAN asks some simple questions on the controversy surrounding the arrest and subsequent release of 12 Indians for the hoo-ha on the flight from Amsterdam:
1. Is is because we are Asians, look different and always look ‘suspect’ in the eyes of westerners? Is apartheid back again?
2. Is it because, the Airline staff felt a set of Indians / Muslims travelling together means ‘trouble’ for them and should be deemed ‘guilty’ until proved otherwise?
3. Is it because ‘funny looking’, (they are not whites) passengers did not adhere to the rules of sitting with the seat belt strapped, when the flight took off and were seen passing their mobile phones?
4. Is the matter ‘over’ because the government of Netherlands say we ‘regret’ the action.
5. What about the humiliation suffered by the handcuffed 12 or shall we say’ India’ which is put in a cell of 4’X 4′ and interrogated for 72 hours?
6.Where was the ‘Intelligence’ of the Dutch Govt / Airlines which can sniff better than the dogs? Why didn’t they find out beforehand and how did they goof?
7. Should India only ‘protest’ and accept that these things are bound to happen ,and nothing big, when it has happened to its former ‘Defence’ Minister George Fernandes , who incidentally did not even protest and suffered silently?
8. How should India make sure that it or its citizenry treated with respect by other supposedly developed countries?
Any Answers…..?
Arabs are the worst hit. Read this link
http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Society/10062796.html
I live in Europe and travel by air quitre frequently. I have often found that Indians often lack demeanour when it comes to using mass transport.
They carry heavy luggages, particualrly large handbags and look ofen very shifty-primarily becuase they do not make any attempt to know what is required of them in such situations. This often gives rise to suspicion as the Dutch have lost their patience with those with dark or brown colours.
The background is Netherland,once a very liberal country is swamped by muslims in unprecedented numbers and do not integrate with the society. They congrgate in their own groups ,women wear purdas and do not attempt to learn the language. I am afraid there is no point in blaming the Dutch when brown young men with back packs blew up the underground trains in London. In my experience Hindus if identified as such face no problems. India with a large muslim base and with islamophobia sweeping the West, there is very little the Indian Government can do. In the West, China is respected and sometimes feared with its potential economic clout, but not India. Protests will do nothing.
I dont think Dutch govt have had done any nonsence, any other country wud have done the same…keeping in mind the recent developments happened in UK.
If the passesngers behave suspicious in the crew, doesnot follow the rules and use cell phones inthe flight…what else do u expect the authorities to do!!….There is a common minimal rules that needs to be followed during the flight…..doesnot matter whoever u r , White or black….And if u dont follow it…face the consequences..
Indian Govt is unnecessarely making it a issue instead asking its ppl to follow rules, atleast outside the country ( Since inside the country…system is so rotten )
To answer yr questions
1.Definetely not…but its because u didnot follow the rules in the crew, despite u were asked to do so.
2. Same as 1
3.Any Passenger would have been given the same treatment, if u dont follow rules
4.Govt of Dutch need not apolozise, for that what they have done keeping in mind the saftey of flight and rest of passengers, is correct.
5. Suffering for 12 hours is just the way they paid for their behaviour
6.Its because, the suspecious behavior was during the take off…not during check in
7. India, intead of protest, shud start educating it ppl hw to behave out side the country, atleast by now
8. Follow the rules as directed
If its India, Govt wud do all amendments to AirPort authoritie law that Minorities were affecteed and that they shud be excluded from the Security checks, DMK and PMK wud have jumped out of the Seats to make all hangama…..ending with Amendments to the constitution
Guys, Dont see the issue in a different light…Having had the recent developments in UK of bombing the flights routed towards US, what else do u expect from Dutch Airport Authorities??
Let us not do Nonsense even outside the country, thus defaming our country
Look, I dont know how much of travel the other guys have done on international flights , but according to my experience we ( I mean Indians) sort of suck when it comes to following decorum and if I had seen the guys exchanging cell phones , walking when the plane is taking off Or when the seat belt sign is on , I would be suspicious too..come on it might be the media hype but a beard makes me slightly nervous nowadays. I am just being honest and this isnt a point on the ‘Us and Them’ hysteria….
It is because we twelve are a bunch of nuts who insist on persisting with our suspicious behavior in a tension-charged atmopshere even when the airline crew ask us not to …
I agree with u Vinay, its all media hype
And i feel, Govt of India ( being ruled by Congress )…is making a fuss…to impress the minority vote bank.
I live in Europe and know Netherlands and its people well. They are very liberal bunch and even tolerated the masses of purdah-clad taking over their villages in a proces called immigration.
In my experience, Indians are the most garrulous when it comes to chatting in public places and in public transport. They speak very loud in their own mother tongue, fiddle with their mobile telephones. One time, I was sitting next to an Indian couple, visitors from Chennai in a train from Amsterdam to Brussels. Their conversation was loud and the passengers were receiving a heavy dosage of Tamil. I had to intervene and educate them about decorum in places such as a railway compartment. My intervention was ignored and the loud chatter continued.
My suggestion: make a workshop on decorum in public places compulsory
before clearing anybody for travel out of India. I can understand what happened in that plane and I too would have thrown them into a cell for a few hours to force them to understand what they did.
I really support Dutch authorities in this matter. Atleast people must behave properly in the international planes. In this time of global terror it is very necessary that even a slight doubtful actions of passengers must be taken into account. This will be lesson to those passengers, so that next time when they travel they will not change the seats like kids. They must behave like adults.
Regarding the government protest to dutch authorities, it is as usual to woo muslim community. Dear Italian Sonia is worried that she may lose some muslim votes in this situation.
Good points by Prashanth. I can’t agree more! Almost every time I travel to India, I see this type of behavior. In 2003, I had even seen guys getting into physical fight over usage of lavatory! This type of misconduct should be punished without any hesitation – especially after all the recent developments in UK. We can not take any chances.
By the way, what is so difficult in following the rules? Why should we feel sorry for these 12 morons? Why can’t they stop using the cell phones during take-off? Why can’t they get back to their seats and fasten the seat belts like you and me during takes-offs? Sorry – I don’t care if they are Whites/Black/Brown/Hindus or Muslims. They need to be locked up. Period.
Those were great points. I also wonder sometimes why people seem to be behaving in such a surprising and disturbing way. It’s like most of the pople nowadays have mental issues or something.
I agree with Prashanth. What should the Dutch govt had done? Twiddle their thumbs and hope nothing would happen for 12 hours?
Come off the “Asians-are-treated-with-disrespect” syndrome. I have seen many American immigration officers who treat with utmost courtesy and a smile while I have very few Indian immigration officials do the same. Ask anyone who has been to America (this is true even after 9/11). Even Deccan Herald’s Shyam Bhatia has written about this.
And I am really pis**d that the writer has used a generic “South-Asians” tag to describe me and my countrymen. I don’t want to be on the same side as the Pakistanis, and the Bangladeshis. Please call me an Indian, and not a South-Asian (even though, unfortunately, I am).
Indians, going abroad need education in civic behavior. They need to be taught to stand in queues, flush after they use the loo, wipe the toilet seat as courtesy to the next user, say sorry if they accidentally touch or brush against a stranger, be attentive to the announcements made in public places like airports, aircraft etc. and pay heed to them, read news and be sensitive to the concerns of those societies. Remember how a celebrity as talented as Kamal Hasan got kicked out of Canada in the 9/11 aftermath when he told authorities that he wanted to shoot there.
Indians, going abroad need education in civic behavior. They need to be taught to stand in queues, flush after they use the loo, wipe the toilet seat as courtesy to the next user, say sorry if they accidentally touch or brush against a stranger, be attentive to the announcements made in public places like airports, aircraft etc. and pay heed to them, read news and be sensitive to the concerns of those societies. Remember how a person as cerebral and as talented as Kamal Hasan got kicked out of Canada in the 9/11 aftermath when he told the authorities that he wanted to shoot there.
I agree with the other commenters. Let’s not fall prey to our colonial insecurities and make these tiresome “racist west is against us” arguments. Thanks to Bin Laden and his loonies, air travel is dangerous. And airlines (rightly so) err on the side of safety. If these passengers were indeed disruptive, they deserved what they got. They may not be terrorists but certainly lack common sense.
ree.. yaaro kammangi baddi makkaLgella yaakri thale kedoskotheera .
free aagi kudyoke sigothe yedhva thadhva kuddho..henda kudidha mangan tharah aadthare gotha .
The only thing that comes out strongly from these unfortunate posts is that YOU ARE ALL HIGHLY INDIANOPHOBIC SORRY SONS OF BITCHES. One guy even says he doesnt want to be called a ‘south asian’ since he would be clubbed with Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. What an a**hole!!! It could be that he has selective dementia when it comes to the glorious history of pre-independence India. The fact that most of these undeserving dickheads have got the life they wanted simply by paying obeisance to the western bosses who entice them with measly wages (compared to what a westerner would be paid for the same job) DOES NOT give them the right to trash poor Indians who still stay in the country and work for the betterment of our motherland.
GET A LIFE AND SOME PERSPECTIVE, YOU SORRY SONS OF BITCHES…
Mr.Ranga, Are you one of those ‘INADEQUATE’ KANNADIGAS who blame the tamil language and tamil people for all the evils of the world? Atleast a tamil guy has to be LOUD to be garrulous, while a Kannadiga simply has to whisper a few words from your ‘FILTHY TAPORI’ mothertongue, kannada to be kicked out from any gathering… Your forefathers did not even have to wisdom to CORRECTLY COPY from tamil to make your language as it stands today.
Go on. Get a life…
Sundar, I think u r a born NUT…And yr language shows the what kindof person u r. Kannada is a langauge of its own and never copied from yr filthy..f**kng ( i feel, u deserve these words! ) Mother tongue….Yr culture/Mother Tongue havenot taught u to respect other languages..this shows how rotten u r, and if yr language taught u this, how rotten yr Language is. Kannada is far above U, we respect all language..however rotten it is ( in this case yrs…as depicted by yr words/acts )
I think abusing others is not just in yr blood but deep in yr Heart. I can only pity ppl like u, who dont have any work and other than telling tht u r a loud GARRULOUS and that thats why u r a proud LTTE, all that…..
U r another Tamil Extremist Shit, No different from Anbumani Ramadoss or yr Karunanidhi.
AND Every one has a right to express their views, but not the way u do it. If u Want to identify yrself with Pakistanis/Bangladeshis…Go to them…Hug them…do whatever u want…but for the sake of it..u dnt have the right to block others U IGNORANT SON OF A A**HOLE!
Ppl go abroad not just for the sake of Money but for tht the system in this country is rotten at its best ( as u r )…Even after paying 30% Tax..U will find the basic minimal things are Sickening…U have reservations…U have Bad Govt Schools…U have Horrible Govt Hospitals…U have to bribe for getting yr work done in the Govt office…You have toxicated food Materials/Water/Air…U have Minorities/Majorities in the name of Vote Bank…over and above all these U have the horrible Politicians..who r the driving System…and end of it U will again Vote for them for that they will Uphold your caste when they r elected…and the bitch u will be happy ‘cos yr community/caste is benifitted and Not that things shud be uniform for everyone…Bloddy U spk of things!
”Sundar’ needs psychiatrist help urgently. Hope someone will get the help he needs.