Tamil actor Siddharth has alleged that he and his senior citizen parents were “harassed” at the Madurai Airport on Tuesday and that the CISF guards repeatedly spoke to them in Hindi even after being told to speak in English.
Siddharth took to his social media accounts to narrate the incident by criticising the CISF personnel who were on duty at the Madurai airport.
“Harassed for 20 mins @ empty Madurai airport by CRPF. They made my senior parents remove coins from their bags! And repeatedly talked to us in Hindi after being told to speak English. When we protested, they said in India this is how it is. Jobless people showing off power,” Siddharth wrote.
The actor had in the past spoken against alleged imposition of Hindi by the BJP government and is an ardent critic of the Centre. After Siddharth’s tweet, Madurai MP and acclaimed author Su Venkatesan wrote to the Airport Director seeking an enquiry into the incident.
“I have requested the @aaimduairport to conduct an enquiry into the allegations of actor Siddharth about the improper conduct of CISF personnel in Madurai airport who demanded to be spoken to in Hindi,” Venkatesan wrote on Twitter.
The actor was both commended and condemned in equal measure for flagging the incident on social media. While people who supported him recalled incidents of people being forced to speak in Hindi at airports, those criticising him pointed to the actor and his family living in the northern part of India for a long time and questioning their claims of not knowing Hindi.
Published 28 December 2022, 13:57 IST