Furious Rijiju slams ‘elitist mindset’, demands action

New Delhi: Taking serious note of an incident in which a woman from Meghalaya was told to leave the Delhi Golf Club’s dining room for wearing her traditional Khasi outift that staff said “looked like a maid’s uniform”, Union minister Kiren Rijiju condemned the incident as “clear case of racial discrimination”.

He asked Delhi police commissioner Amulya Patnaik to take appropriate action regarding the incident, which, he said also reflected an “elitist mindset”.

Mr Rijiju raised the matter with Mr Patnaik after Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma discussed the issue with the minister. “I will also speak to the urban development ministry on how such privileges can be given to people with such mindsets,” he said about  the club, which occupies prime land in the heart of the national capital. An incensed Mr Rijiju told reporters that no one had the right to judge a person by his or her attire.

“It was a clear case of racial discrimination. Such an elitist mindset of some people will destroy the social fabric of the country,” he said. The minister of state for home, who is from Arunachal Pradesh, said the incident was “unfortunate and condemnable”.