The first winner of Dance India Dance, choreographer-dancer Salman Yusuff Khan was reportedly harassed by an immigration officer at the Bengaluru airport for not knowing Kannada. The immigration officer reportedly threatened him under ‘suspect’ list.
Taking to his Instagram handle, Salman shared a video of the entire incident and expressed how angry he was after being harassed in his own birthplace Bengaluru.
Sharing the incident, Salman wrote, “@kempegowdainternationalairpor... on my way to dubai and I meet this immigration officer who speaks to me in Kannad... and I in my broken Kannada try to tell him that I understand the language but can’t speak so well to which he continues to speak in Kannada and shows me my passport and points out my name and my birth place and my father’s name and his birthplace and has the audacity to tell me tha... you and your father are born in Bangalore and u can’t speak Kannada... to which I replied... that being born in Bangalore doesn’t mean I’m born with the language … I could be born in Bangalore and travelled the world like I have been always a Saudi child bought up in Saudi .. (ps: I have never had Kannada as a language as I never lived in the country during my schooling .. whatever little that I know is through my friends )."
“To which he goes to the extent of saying that... if u can’t speak Kannada I can suspect you … I told him that I know my nations official language Hindi and my mother tongue is Hindi why should I know Kannada …”
“I told him that if uneducated people like you continue to live in this country this country will never grow … To which he just kept his head down and murmuring… Trying to report this incident to the airport authorities but no one seems to be guiding me...”
“Ps: I am a proud Bangalorean but what I’ve faced today is unacceptable … you should always encourage people to learn any local language not demean them for not knowing it … and pulling your parents name into it,” Salman wrote.
A few users came out in support of Salman and also shared their experiences in the comment section.
“Very common thing that happens to everyone in Karnataka or in South… Rightly said our national language is Hindi… But every now and then there surfaces a video where ppl are being harassed for not knowing their regional language,” commented one user.
However, many other users also slammed him and wrote, “First of all, Hindi is not a national language. I’m your fan but I can’t agree you on this matter, it’s not good.”