Farhan Azmi, the husband of Bolllywood actress Ayesha Takia, said that while waiting to board a flight to Mumbai at Goa airport with his wife and son, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel made “racist” remarks towards him and his family.
Azmi said in a series of tweets on Monday that his family and he were singled out from the check-in line after his name was yelled out. The CISF has dismissed the claims as “baseless,” claiming that it was Azmi who chose a fight and broke the rules.
Dear @CISFHQrs
I was boarding for Mumbai on @IndiGo6E 6386, 18:40 hrs flight & these racist officers R P Singh, A K Yadav, commander Rout & senior officer (SP category) Bahadur purposely singled me & my family (wife & son) immediately after they read out my name out loud to team pic.twitter.com/gjHdnFajDN— Farhan Azmi (@abufarhanazmi) April 4, 2022
Azmi is a member of the Samajwadi Party and is the son of Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi from Maharashtra. He also claims to be a restaurateur and the owner of a number of hospitality businesses. He labels himself as a “constitutional activist” on Twitter.
“Altercation started when an armed male officer at the security desk tried to physically touch & tell my wife and son to stand in another line when all other families were standing together for security,” he said on social media. All I said to him is to dare touch any female & maintain distance.”
During the frisking, he also accused the officer of making “dirty sexual comments” and “racist” statements.
“Within minutes he gathered 5 other officers including a senior named Bahadur who instead of resolving the issue, identified me with my boarding pass & pushed me saying ‘isko udhar Karo, ye Maharashtra Nahin hai’, went on to announce my name to all of them & refused to let me through,” he added.
It didn’t stop here! Senior officer Bahadur then signalled the @CISFHQrs guard with his hand who was ready to frisk me. This racist **##** made a dirty sexual comment while he was checking my pockets which had only a 500₹ note ( video on record ). @CPMumbaiPolice @aaigoaairport pic.twitter.com/DbJyGiv85M
— Farhan Azmi (@abufarhanazmi) April 4, 2022
To highlight his accusation, Azmi tagged the official Twitter handles of the CISF, Goa Chief Minister, and Indigo on his tweet, and sought an investigation “through CCTV footage” from the airport.
DIG Anil Pandey told ThePrint that the claims were “baseless,” and that Azmi was “simply asked to follow the queue when he picked an argument.”
According to Pandey, the fight occurred as Azmi and other passengers were about to board the plane.
“We (CISF) deal with over seven lakh passengers per day at the airport, how many such complaints or allegations have ever been made? He was just asked to follow the security protocol and none of the officers passed any racist remarks. The CISF is a very professional force and deals with people on a daily basis. The officers never indulge in any altercations or arguments as their job is to ensure security and that the protocol at the airport is followed,” he said.
According to Pandey, the fight occurred as Azmi and other passengers were about to board the plane. “There were other people also, who complained of him breaking the queue. And the personnel on duty merely asked him to follow the queue. This is when he started arguing and then called it racist. If someone chooses facts with a spin of this nature, then it is sad,” he said.
