An Air India passenger claims he was threatened by a co-passenger for not speaking in Marathi. The incident occurred on board an Air India flight from Kolkata to Mumbai on October 23. Mahi Khan shared footage of his verbal confrontation with his co-passenger — an as-yet unidentified woman who apparently started threatening him for not knowing Marathi.
“If you’re going to Mumbai, you should know Marathi,” the woman was heard saying in a video that Khan shared on Instagram.
HT.com has reached out to both Khan and Air India for a statement. This copy will be updated on receiving a response.
An argument over Marathi
In his Instagram video, Khan alleged that he was threatened by the woman after he refused to speak in Marathi.
“You’re telling me that I need to speak in Marathi?” he asked the woman, who replied: “Yes. If you’re going to Mumbai, you should know Marathi.” The woman refused to disclose her name on camera.
In the video, Khan claimed that he confronted her over her misbehaviour and called Air India crew for help. In front of the crew, the woman threatened him by saying “I’ll show you what badtameezi is (I’ll show you what misbehaviour is).”
“She sat on seat 16A and started shouting that I have to speak in Marathi because I’m flying to Mumbai,” he claimed in the caption. “When I calmly ‘Kya Badtameezi Hai Yeh’ she said ‘I’ll show you what badtameezi is’.”
{{/usCountry}}“She sat on seat 16A and started shouting that I have to speak in Marathi because I’m flying to Mumbai,” he claimed in the caption. “When I calmly ‘Kya Badtameezi Hai Yeh’ she said ‘I’ll show you what badtameezi is’.”
{{/usCountry}}In a video shot after the encounter, Khan addressed viewers directly and claimed that he had been threatened by the woman. He also questioned what kind of mentality makes someone impose language rules on another person in the year 2025.
“I recorded everything. Because this isn’t just about me, it’s about the mindset that’s growing dangerously normal,” he wrote. “You cannot force a language. You cannot bully respect.”
The Air India flyer ended his post by urging the airline to take strict action against the woman.
(Also read: Navi Mumbai student thrashed for asking classmates to speak Marathi: ‘Raj Thackeray will…’)