Elderly Muslim man told to 'go back to Pakistan' on Delhi Metro

An elderly Muslim man in India was told to "go back to Pakistan" when he asked for a seat reserved for senior citizens.

A Facebook post by Indian women rights' activist Kavita Krishnan narrated the incident. Santosh Roy, the national secretary of AICCT, was travelling with friends on the violet line of the Delhi Metro when he saw two young men sitting on seats which were reserved for senior citizens.

"A senior citizen (who appeared to be Muslim because he had a beard and no moustache) came up to the young men and asked one of them to allow him to sit. The young men refused. When the senior citizen asked them again, the young men told him, 'This seat is for Hindustanis not for Pakistanis like you. If you want a seat, go to Pakistan and get it there.'," Krishnan wrote in her post.



When Roy objected to the treatment and asked the men to apologise and give the elderly man a seat, other people allegedly came to the support of the abusive duo. One of them caught Roy by the collar and also told him to "go to Pakistan".

However, he stood his ground and several other passengers in the metro came to his support.

"When the metro stopped at Khan Market Station, a guard entered the compartment. As the guard, accompanied by Roy and the elderly Muslim gentleman, took the two young men to the police chowki at Pandara Road, the young men’s other ‘supporters’ promptly deserted them," the Facebook post states.

A complaint was lodged at Pandara Road Police Station, where the duo was taken. The post further added that the young men kept threatening that "our people are coming" when they were taken to the station.

At this point "the police offered to escort the elderly Muslim gentleman home, but he went home on his own."

Krishnan states that Roy started getting calls the next day saying the men wanted to apologise to him. However, he told them they should apologise to the man they had targeted in the metro.

Roy visited the police station a few days later to find that the elderly man had decided not to file a complaint. He had rather accepted their apology.

"Some days later Roy visited the police chowki. There, the elderly gentleman had given a written statement that he accepted the apology from the two young men and that he had forgiven them keeping in mind their young age. The young men were contrite and made many apologies to Comrade Roy also, while their parents, who were also present, said that their sons had done a shameful and wrong thing," she wrote.



Krishnan claims there might be a possibility the man did not want to pursue a complaint keeping in mind the legal proceedings.

She further claimed that the duo "had been emboldened by the prevailing communal climate to think they could get away with abusing a Muslim person."

"In times when a communal climate is being manufactured all around us, it is important for every Indian to show active support for minorities when they are subjected to abuse, indignities or violence," she wrote.

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