Kong Tailin Lyngdoh asked to leave Delhi Golf Club for wearing 'Jenseim'; Meghalaya CM Mukul Sangma demands action

Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on tuesday demanded legal action against Delhi Golf Club after a khasi woman was kicked out for wearing traditional attire 'Jenseim'.

Racism against people from North-East in the national capital has become very common, Tailin Lyngdoh, who was a guest of P Thimmayya Goel, a long-time member of the club, was asked to leave by authorities as her traditional Khasi dress Jenseim ‘looked like the attire of a maid’.

"Such racial discrimination has been happening all these years in a number of places and this particular racial behaviour is not an instance in isolation.

"All legal options available according to Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989 and Fundamental Rights, with its relevant Articles should be taken advantage of, so such behaviour is not repeated in future," the Chief Minister said in a statement.

Mr Sangma said the incident was 'unacceptable' and demanded a case be registered against the club so that it becomes a deterrence in future.

"This incident of racial behaviour of the people who do not understand the very spirit of the inclusiveness of this nation is unacceptable, distasteful and racial discrimination that needs to be condemned by one and all and calls for all necessary action as per the law of the land," he said.

"This incident of racial behaviour of the people who do not understand the very spirit of the inclusiveness of this nation is unacceptable, distasteful and racial discrimination that needs to be condemned by one and all and calls for all necessary action as per the law of the land," he said.

The woman, Tailin Lyngdoh, was asked to leave the room because the club's staffers believed her traditional outfit looked like a "maid's uniform", her employer, Nivedita Barthakur Sondhi, told PTI.

The club issued a statement on Tuesday, saying it had apologised to the member who had invited Ms Sondhi and her son's governess, Lyngdoh. It also said the incident was being given a "political and cultural overtone".

Minister of State (MoS) for Home Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday hit out at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) for denying entry to a Khasi woman from Meghalaya.
Mr. Rijiju said he had spoken to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik and asked him to probe charges of “racial discrimination”. “It is a clear case of racial discrimination. The incident smacks of elitist mindset that will destroy the social fabric of India,” he said.

“If an Indian goes to a foreign country and is thrown out of a train for the colour of his/her skin, how would we feel? This is happening in India. How can you discriminate on the basis of attire?” Mr. Rijiju said.

In a Facebook post, Sondhi said, “Lyngdoh, an extremely proud, Khasi lady who has travelled the world in her jainsem from London to UAE, was thrown out of the Delhi Golf Club because her dress was taken for a maid’s uniform!”  Though she was at the lunch as an invitee, she was “humiliated”, Sondhi wrote.  

The “two gatekeepers” did not apologise to her, she said.“It is appalling that a citizen of India is judged on her dress and treated as a pariah,” she wrote.  

The club in its statement said the incident could have been “handled better” by a staff member, who has been asked to give an “explanation”.  The club said “an apology has been made” to the member whose guest Lyngdoh was. Sondhi, however, said neither she nor Lyngdoh had been contacted by the club or received an apology from it.

With PTI Input