Etawah: Despite having a confirmed ticket, a septuagenarian was denied entry into Shatabdi Express allegedly for “wearing a dhoti and carrying a cloth bag and an umbrella”.
As reported by Daily Pioneer, Baba Ram Awadh Das (72) told media persons that he was not allowed to board the train because he was wearing a dhoti. He added that the policeman and an attendant standing near a coach asked him to go away.
According to Das, he had a reserved ticket in coach C-2, seat number 72 of 12033 Kanpur-New Delhi Shatabdi Express for July 4. When the train reached Etawah station at 7:40 pm, he tried to board it, but the cops standing at the gate objected to his attire. He alleged that the cops and coach attendant also cracked jokes on his attire and asked him to deboard the train.
He said, despite showing them his ticket, they refused to listen to him and forced him to alight the train. He was left stranded at the station, as the train left after the two-minute.
Baba Ram Awadh Das a native of Barabanki said that though he had not seen Mahatma Gandhi being thrown out from the train in South Africa, but the incident relating to him was very similar to Britishers treating the coloured people.