Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday filed a formal complaint with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), alleging “harassment” by a group of men onboard an IndiGo flight while she was travelling to Delhi for a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on defence.
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In a post on social media platform X, the TMC leader said the incident happened on IndiGo flight 6E 719. She claimed that after the aircraft landed, and before the doors were opened, a group of men shouted slogans at her and recorded the incident on their phones.
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Mahua Moitra faces ‘chor’ chants
“Chor chor, TMC chor, pishi chor, bhaipo chor (thieves, thieves, TMC is a thief, aunt is a thief, nephew is a thief),” the men shouted. The slogans were directed at TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
The Krishnanagar MP also faced “Jai Shri Ram” chants during the episode. She described the incident as “harassment” and said it affected her safety on board the flight.
“This is no ‘citizen anger’. This is harassment and violates my safety in an aircraft. No way that these louts can get away with this harassment inside an airplane,” she said.
In another post, she added, “This is BJP culture. Why is anyone surprised?”
Moitra said she initially ignored the matter and attended the parliamentary meeting. However, after watching the video online, she decided to speak publicly about the incident.
Complaint filed over ‘chor’ chants incident
In her complaint to the DGCA, the TMC MP alleged that the “miscreants” engaged in “loud and continuous chanting of political slogans of a partisan nature, plainly aimed at intimidating and humiliating me on account of my political affiliation”.
She further claimed that the group used “politically charged slogans and chants that had the manifest object and effect of stigmatising me on grounds of my political affiliation; personal abuse, jeers, name-calling and gendered invective directed at me, including remarks designed to provoke, terrify and demean; recording me on mobile devices without consent, accompanied by exhortations to others on board to join in the heckling – a circumstance that strongly suggests that the conduct was rehearsed and intended for circulation on social media.”
Seeking action against the airline staff as well, she alleged that the cabin crew “remained passive bystanders” and failed to step in or seek assistance during the incident.
She urged the DGCA to direct IndiGo to file a complaint regarding the “unruly behaviour by its Pilot-in-Command” within 48 hours and to immediately set up the Internal Committee for adjudication within the mandatory 30-day period.
The MP also sought a show-cause notice against IndiGo and all cabin crew members operating the flight, asking them to explain why they “failed to fulfil their statutory responsibilities”.
IndiGo has not yet issued an official statement on the matter.
