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IndiGo bans ‘unruly’ Kerala LDF convener from flying for 3 weeks
The two Youth Congress workers have been handed out a two-week flying ban by the airline under aviation rules governing unruly passengers, a person aware of the development said.
IndiGo airline on Monday placed Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener EP Jayarajan on its “no-fly” list for three weeks after its inquiry indicated the politician aggravated the situation when two Youth Congress workers raised slogans against chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan during a flight from Kannur last month, people familiar with the matter said.
The two Youth Congress workers have been handed out a two-week flying ban by the airline under aviation rules governing unruly passengers, a person aware of the development said.
Jayarajan, a veteran leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) , called the airline’s decision a “huge insult” and declared that he will never fly IndiGo again.
“It is a huge insult. Not three weeks, I will boycott the airline forever. Instead of praising me for preventing an assault on the CM, it is punishing me. I never expected this from the airline,” he said in the state capital.
CPI-M leader AA Raheem in Delhi said he will appeal against the airline’s decision with the regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
The airline’s investigation into the June 13 incident concluded that the conduct of the two Congress workers who raised slogans against the chief minister during the flight and the LDF leader was unruly.
The report said the cabin crew tried to pacify the two youth, Farzeen Majeed and Naveen Kumar, who raised slogans against the chief minister but the situation aggravated after two were pushed aside by another traveller (Jayarajan).
More than 30 Congress offices in several parts of Kerala were attacked within hours of the mid-air protest including the party headquarters in state capital Thiruvananthapuram. In north Kerala’s Payyanur, a statue of Mahathma Gandhi erected to commemorate his 1936 visit to the town, was also vandalised allegedly by protesting CPI(M) workers.
The two Youth Congress workers said they were happy that the truth came out in the airline’s inquiry and said that they will approach the court to seek action against Jayarajan for attacking them.
“We only raised slogans but later we were brutally assaulted by the CM’s security guards and Jayarajan,” said Farzeen. The two were arrested by the police soon after they landed at Thiruvananthapuram. They were released on bail after 10 days in custody.
The ruling CPI(M) termed it a “terror act” but the Congress defended party workers saying “it was a symbolic way of protest against an oppressive regime.”
The state police, which is investigating the Congress workers booked for attempt to murder the chief minister, has sent notices to Kerala Youth Congress vice- president KS Sabarinathan to appear before the probe team after screen shots of a chat about the inflight protest emerged on social media.
The inflight protest against Pinarayi Vijayan was part of the Congress campaign against the chief minister after gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh claimed that the chief minister and his family was aware of the alleged racket.
The sensational gold smuggling case came to light on July 5, 2020 after the customs officials seized 30 kg gold from a consignment sent to the UAE consulate. All the 30 people arrested in this case are on bail. The accused include chief minister’s former secretary Sivashankar who is back in service after 17 months of suspension.
