While thousands of smart, well-dressed young men and women waited for their turn at Air India’s recruitment drive for airhostesses and flight pursers, the national carrier’s offices saw some ugly scenes on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, about 1,000 members of the Air Corporation SC/ST Employees’ Association demonstrated at the Air India Colony, Kalina. An officer had maligned the backward classes, they claimed, demanding his suspension. They stayed there till 10 pm, returning on Tuesday morning for another round of sloganeering, galvanised by long-distance support from Republican Party of India (RPI) Member of Parliament Ramdas Athavale.Their contention? RPI vice-president of Mumbai region, Shravan Nikalje, and two others had gone to meet captain M.K. Hathi, director (operations) on January 29, asking about reservations for the backward classes. Hathi is alleged to have driven them off saying the following: ‘‘Dhed aur chamaro ki ladki hawaii sundari nahi ho sakti (Daughters of untouchables and cobblers cannot become airhostesses)’’. RPI activists claimed Hathi also said there are no beautiful women among the backward classes. Hathi stoutly denied the allegations. ‘‘I welcomed them like any other visitor. I asked them twice what they wanted. They exchanged pleasantries and left,’’ Hathi said. But on Monday and Tuesday, the 1,000-odd protesters were in no mood to back off. The police were called to control the situation. A panel of three senior directors was constituted to pacify the crowd. The employees association secretary Milind Bhawar and president Pradeep Dhobley said these comments — which were published in a community-circulated newspaper — have hurt their sentiments, causing irreparable damage. ‘‘Our girls are demoralised. It has hampered their chances to come forward. And the management is trying to save him (Hathi),’’ Bhawar said.On January 30, Athavale had even dashed off a letter to the Inspector General of Police seeking action against Hathi under the Prevention of Atrocities Act, ‘‘failing which the issue will snowball into an irretrievable situation’’.Speaking from New Delhi, Athavale said investigations should continue and, if found guilty, ‘‘the official should ask for forgiveness’’. Director (Human Resources Development) Jitendra Bhargava rubbished the allegations, calling them a frame-up. ‘‘Their demand to suspend Hathi has been rejected,’’ he said.
