Shillong, June 26: A woman from Meghalaya's West Khasi Hills was allegedly asked to leave Delhi Golf Club yesterday because her jainsem, the traditional attire worn by Khasi women, was perceived to be a maid's uniform.
Tailin Lyngdoh had gone to the club with Nivedita Barthakur, an entrepreneur and honorary adviser to the Assam health department. Tailin is governess to Barthakur's son.
Barthakur told The Telegraph from New Delhi: "Yesterday, a club member invited nine of us to lunch there. Tailin was also invited. We were shown to the table, but after some time, two persons came up and asked Tailin to leave, saying maids were not allowed. We were told that Tailin looked like a Nepali."
In a Facebook post, Barthakur said: "An example of north Indian bigotry, chauvinism and ignorance: many of us have been slighted in the capital of India for being from the Northeast and have lived to tell our tales! Today Tailin Lyngdoh, an extremely proud Khasi lady who has travelled the world in her jenseim (jainsem) from London to UAE was thrown out of the Delhi Golf Club because her dress was taken for a maid's uniform! Despite her being invited in her own right as a guest of a member..."
Barthakur added that the club staff did not even apologise for the humiliation. "The room was full of Delhi elites who make their maids and nannies wait outside in the heat. It was not just about two employees behaving the way they did. It's about the power vested in them. We had just placed our orders when they came and accosted us. We had a former IAS officer and educationist, a former MP's wife and two senior people, among others, at our table. There must have been 50 people at the club and no one said a word. We walked out," she said. "As we left, the two persons said, ' Pata nahin kaha kaha se chale aate hain (don't know where these people come from)."
"I turned around and told them that they had not seen the last of this. They responded by saying ' Kar lo jo karna hai (do what you wish)'", Barthakur added.
A doctor, Barthakur lived in London for nine years and was a consultant to the UK and other European countries on health policy. She now lives in Abu Dhabi.
Tailin told The Telegraph that yesterday's incident was the first of its kind in 10 years. "I was told that I looked like a Nepali because of my dress. This is the first time I heard such a thing. I have been staying in London and Abu Dhabi for nearly 10 years now, and everyone I met used to say that I look very nice in the jainsem," she said.
Tailin comes from Mairang, about 50km east of Shillong.
"This is not something that we will take lying down. It is a common occurrence. I had also faced such things when I was a student in Delhi," Barthakur said. "I am reaching out to activists and lawyers and we might approach the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes as this is a case of discrimination. Tailin had carried out her responsibilities with dignity and commitment."
The chairman of the North East Students' Organisation (Neso), Samuel B. Jyrwa, said he was not surprised that this was a manifestation of cultural intolerance and racism.
"This is a racist action on the part of the golf club and Neso strongly condemns it," he said. Jyrwa also expressed concern over the growing tendency in the country to treat anything that does not conform to the mainstream as anti-national.
In 2011, Calcutta Club had triggered a controversy by denying entry to artist, Shuvaprasanna, for wearing clothes that did not conform to the club's western dress code.
The Telegraph tried to reach the Delhi Golf Club secretary Rajiv Hora for a reaction but did not get any response till late evening. Barthakur said the club was putting pressure on her indirectly to not pursue the matter.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY PANKAJ SARMA IN GUWAHATI
