Sushma Swaraj Apologises to Manipuri Girl, Asks Rajnath For Help

Monika was told by an immigration officer that she didn’t “look Indian.”

Monika Khangembam. (Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Monika Khangembam)

Monika Khangembam, a resident of Imphal in Manipur, on Saturday shared a very unpleasant racist experience on Facebook. Monika, in her post, alleged that the immigration officer in Delhi subjected her to racism and repeatedly asked her questions about her nationality.

The officer looked at her passport and told her that she didn’t look Indian. He also went on to ask her the total number of states in India and the number of states Manipur shares its border with.

It was like it was his mission to make me realise my ‘Indianness’ and he thought he was being funny. I was running late and felt I was giving in to the bully.

Monika

To add to her distress, she said that a lady at the next counter was giggling at her questioning.

Monika’s family giving an interview. (Photo: ANI)

According to a report by The Indian Express, Monika’s post has already been shared more than 600 times. She is currently in Seoul for work and has said that she would take the issue forward by filing a complaint once she gets back in 15 days.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted an apology to Monika and said that she would ask Home Minister Rajnath Singh to look into the matter.

On being interviewed by the ANI, Monika’s sister said:

This is indeed very unfortunate. My sister who was carrying an Indian passport was repeatedly asked by the immigration officer about her nationality, and that too very sarcastically. This was also totally not related to the trip. This type of treatment is totally unaccepatable to us and the conerned authorities should look into the matter very seriously so that this type of an incident does not reoccur.

Reacting to the news of this incident, Barkha Singh Shukla, former DCW Chief said in a video to ANI:

It is very shameful that such an incident can take place in the capital of our country. The officers should be ashamed of themselves. There are so many laws in the country against racism. All women are with her in this, and therefore, whenever she returns to Manipur, she should get an FIR filed, the matter should be looked into and perperetrators of racism should be punished.

Kirren Rejiju, Union Minister of State of State for Home Affairs of India said that he is aware of what had happened, and appropriate action will be taken once all details come in.