As the debate over Marathi in Maharashtra rages on, a passenger travelling via Air India on Thursday, October 23 shared a video of him being threatened by a woman for not speaking the language on flight.
The passenger shared a video of the incident on social media platform, Instagram. In the video the Instagram user @mahinergy (Mahi Khan) is seen being confronted by a woman for not speaking Marathi. In the video captioned “This happened to me in AI676”, Khan is seen questioning the woman “Are you asking me to speak in Marathi?” to which the woman, who refused to identify herself responded, “Yes, please do.”
The reason for the argument over the language is unknown.
Irked over the issue, Khan is heard saying, “No I won’t speak Marathi.” The woman further said, “You are going to Mumbai, you should know Marathi.”
When the man asked the fellow passenger not to misbehave, the woman said, “Get down in Mumbai and I will show you what misbehaviour is.”
Khan said that the woman continued to threaten him in front of the flight attendants. The woman is further heard saying, “If you don’t know Marathi, sit back down.”
Autogenerated caption on the reel read , “In a country that proudly says unity in diversity. These people are defaming India.” In the video, Khan further said, ” Such misbehaviour is happening in the Air India flight. I have been threatened that I must speak in Marathi if I want to stay in Mumbai.”
He then questioned the mentality of people who engage in such confrontations. In a post on Instagram Khan said, “I recorded everything Because this isn’t just about me, it’s about the mindset that’s growing dangerously normal You cannot force a language. You cannot buy respect.”
He also urged Air India to take action against such people adding that they should be banned. He concluded by saying that no passenger should feel unsafe or humiliated for simply speaking a different language.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Mohammed Baleegh | 
