Air India flyer heckled for not speaking Marathi on Mumbai flight

An Air India flyer was allegedly heckled by another passenger over speaking Marathi onboard a Mumbai-bound flight. The heckled passenger, Mahi Khan, a YouTuber, who was asked by a woman co-passenger to speak in Marathi, recorded the entire altercation.

Khan said that it was a 6.25 am flight. Trouble started when, after boarding and take off, Khan tried to recline his seat a bit. When he pressed the button to recline the seat, it accidentally hit a bottle placed on the tray on the seat behind him, and the bottle fell down. The woman, who occupied the seat behind him, started shouting at him in Marathi, a language he was not very conversant in and was unable to understand what she was saying.

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"The moment I pressed the button and reclined my seat, a bottle which was on the tray of a woman behind my seat slipped and fell. She shouted at me in Marathi, and I didn't understand," Khan told NDTV.

‘You are going to Mumbai, but can’t speak Marathi’

He said that even after he apologised to the woman, she kept shouting at him in Marathi, prompting him to ask her if she could speak in Hindi or English so that he could respond.

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"I looked at her and said 'sorry ma'am'. She again said something in Marathi, which I didn't understand. I asked her if she could tell me in Hindi or English so that I could respond. I had no idea if she was scolding me or telling me something," added Khan.

The woman then said that Khan was flying to Mumbai, but he couldn’t speak Marathi.

‘Is it mandatory to speak Marathi’

Khan, who made a video on “language wars” six months ago, said that he started recording the altercation on his phone and asked the woman whether it was mandatory to speak in Marathi. The woman kept shouting at him, saying that if he was going to Mumbai, he had to speak Marathi.

After this, Khan approached the Air India crew for help and asked them whether it was mandatory to speak in Marathi on board Air India, to which they said that there was no such precondition.

Threatened by co-passenger

Khan told NDTV that after this, the woman threatened him with “showing what misbehaviour means" after landing in Mumbai.

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"I didn't argue with her, despite her bad tone... the crew came and I explained the entire scenario to them... Is it mandatory to speak in Marathi on Air India? The crew said Of course not. Then I asked why she was misbehaving with me. You will hear me say this in the video. She replied 'I will tell you in Marathi. Once you land in Mumbai, I will tell you," said Khan.

‘Air India yet to take action’

Alleging that Air India was yet to take any action against the passenger, Khan said that he has been living in Mumbai for four years and has several Marathi friends, but they never behaved with him in such a manner.

"They have never behaved in that manner. They always talk in Hindi or English. Although there are certain moments when I have also tried to learn Marathi... If you tell somebody to learn your regional language, you have to say it in a welcoming tone. Only then will people start understanding your language. If you start forcing your language on others, people will start perceiving your language in a negative manner," said Khan.