Siddharth pens down details of ‘harassment’ faced at Madurai airport

Mumbai: ‘Rang De Basanti’ actor Siddharth on Thursday took to social media to share a detailed account of the reported �harassment that he and his family recently faced at Madurai airport.

Siddharth had previously expressed his anger saying that CISF personnel mistreated elder members of his family.

In his new post, the actor wrote that after several minutes of bad behaviour, he was allowed to pass through the security check along with his family after a senior officer recognised him.

He wrote: “I was travelling with my family this time. Three elders, two young children, and a few adults. The airport was empty and we went to clear security well before our boarding time. The security line was also empty and we were the only passengers going through at the time.”

Revealing that this was the first time that he has had any difficulty with airport personnel, he said that the entire family had already passed through three separate airports without a hitch prior to the Madurai incident.

“The CISF individual who sat behind glass kept scrutinising our IDs repeatedly including the children’s passports. He then looked at my face and Adhaar card and shouted �yeh tum ho?’ When I told him it was me and asked him why he asked me that question when my ID looks exactly like I do, he said he had doubts.”

“Then the next individual shouted at us asking �Hindi samajhte hain na?’ And before we answered, rudely went on that he would throw out any iPad or phones that he found. After my bag cleared, he then took out my earphones and threw them on the tray. I told him that at various airports we have lost electronic items like earphones and apple pencils and even phones left on the tray and have been advised to avoid keeping them on the tray because of theft. To which we were told that this is Madurai and these are the rules.”

Siddharth then said that his mother was made to remove loose change from her purse, and that a child’s injections and his medical condition was discussed in public.

“One of the children has medical need syringes that were in a clearly marked med bag. My sister requested him to come and speak to her in private. Why was the curious gentleman asking for medical details of a sensitive nature across an open area. Is it fair to reveal people’s personal details like this?” Siddharth continued.

This went on for 20 minutes, Siddharth protested and said “that this was harassment and we were not a security risk and we had cleared 3 crowded airports together as a family in the past week without incident.”

He said that he understands that this isn’t a systemic issue, because he flies multiple times a week without incident, but that this might be a case of certain individuals having a bad day and taking it out on others. He said that both the airport authorities and airline representatives apologised to him on behalf of the CISF. – IANS