Language barrier: Telugu woman moved from her seat in IndiGo flight

The tweet has sparked a discussion on the micro-blogging website around the topic of discrimination based on language and why airlines need to read out safety instructions in regional languages.

Hyderabad: Highlighting an incident that took place on an Indigo aircraft on Friday, Devasmita Chakraverty, an Assistant Professor at IIM Ahmedabad took to Twitter to share how a Telugu-speaking woman was moved from her seat because she could not understand English or Hindi.

“Flight from AP to Telangana has no instructions in Telugu, attendant said it’s a safety issue that she doesn’t understand English/Hindi. If unhappy, we (not she) should complain. No dignity, non-Hindi treated as second class citizens in their own state #hindiimposition,” she tweeted.

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The tweet has sparked a discussion on the micro-blogging website around the topic of discrimination based on language and why airlines need to read out safety instructions in regional languages.

Reacting to the issue, one user wrote, “This is so unacceptable and problematic at so many levels. It is appalling that the @IndiGo6E staff thought that they can openly discriminate non-Hindi speakers under the garb of “security”. ha!”

While some users wrote off the airline staff’s behavior to be rude, others were more understanding. The counter argument was that the position she was seated in was critical and in an event of a crisis, the staff on board must be able to communicate with her.

They argued that the fact she couldn’t understand any other language other than Telugu and the staff not being able to speak that particular language was the primary reason she was moved.

Talking about how airless staff was unable to speak southern languages, one user wrote, “I’ve seen this so often. Hyderabad – Bangalore flights proudly say the cabin crew can speak in English, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and Odiya. But not Telugu or Kannada.”

Although it is difficult to determine if the lady was moved because of language barrier or safety concerns, the focus has surely shifted to the language abilities of the cabin crew that is appointed for regional flights.

Reacting to the same, IT Minister KT Rama Rao tweeted asking the airlines to recruit more staff members who can speak local languages.

Indigo 6E 7297. Vijayawada (AP) to Hyderabad (Telangana), Sept 16-2022. The woman in green originally sitting in 2A (XL seat, exit row) was forced to seat 3C because she understood only Telugu, not English/Hindi. The attendant said it's a security issue. #discrimination @IndiGo6E pic.twitter.com/bHa8hQj5vz

— Devasmita Chakraverty, PhD, MPH (@DevasmitaTweets) September 17, 2022

Dear @IndiGo6E Management, I request you to start respecting local languages & passengers who may not be well conversant in English or Hindi

In regional routes, recruit more staff who can speak the local language like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada etc. This will be a win-win solution https://t.co/GbJGi5nl0W

— KTR (@KTRTRS) September 18, 2022