New Delhi: A day after his brazen assault on an Air India officer, an association of airlines on Friday barred Shiv Sena leader Ravindra Gaikwad from flying by five Indian carriers “with immediate effect.”
Ravindra Gaikwad |
“Strict action should be taken against Member of Parliament (MP) Ravindra Gaikwad by law enforcement agencies. We believe that an assault on any one of our employees is an assault on all of us and on ordinary law abiding citizens of our country who work hard to earn a living,” Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) said in a statement.
FIA counts Jet Airways, IndiGo, Go Air, SpiceJet and JetLite as its members.
“In the interest of the safety and security of our colleagues and other customers, we also propose the promulgation of a no-fly list which shall include the names of all unruly passengers. Such customers are not welcome on our carriers and we seek the support of the government and security agencies to enforce such a no-fly list,” the statement read.
Air India cancelled Gaikwad’s ticket to fly on Friday from Delhi to Pune. He then booked an IndiGo flight through an agent which was also cancelled by the airlines.
After his ticket was cancelled by Air India, Gaikwad, MP from Osmanabad in Maharashtra, said that the carrier was guilty of “poor service” and that the manager who he thrashed should apologise to him.
On Thursday, Gaikwad had assaulted a 60-year-old duty manager of Air India with a slipper and tried to push him off the plane. He admitted that he had hit the official because the carrier changed his seat from business to economy class.
Air India says it had informed Gaikwad’s office that the flight he had chosen operates entirely with economy seats.The MP, however, refused to disembark from the plane for nearly 45 minutes after he landed in Delhi. Air India manager Sukumar Raman boarded the plane to persuade Gaikwad to exit the plane. He was then hit repeatedly by Gaikwad.
In his police complaint on Friday, Raman wrote of being humiliated publicly by Gaikwad.
“The buttons of my shirt were ripped by MP Ravindra Gaikwad. He broke my glasses, repeatedly hit me with his sandals and kept abusing me. God save our country if this is the culture of our politicians and MPs,” Raman wrote in his complaint.
Gaikwad himself bragged about hitting Raman 25 times with his slipper. Delhi Police is yet to file a formal complaint against him. The police said they are waiting for legal opinion in the matter.
“We are taking legal opinion in the matter. We expect to receive it soon. The action will be taken accordingly,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Airport) Sanjay Bhatia told Gulf News.
Gaikwad remained unapologetic about the incident on Friday. When asked if he regretted the incident, the MP said he had made the Parliament “proud.”
“I do not regret beating up the employee and I will not apologise. Let the Air India officer apologise to me. I shall see what to do later,” he said.
He has asked Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju to investigate Air India. Mahajan said she cannot take suo motu action and that she will take a call if it is brought to her notice in the House.
“I always say every human being should behave in a nice manner with everyone. Whosoever it is, your behaviour should be good with everyone. As a mother, I would suggest that to everyone. I will understand everything and then I will comment,” Mahajan told the media.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has sought a report to determine the facts. The party said that it does not tolerate violence.
