In 8 months, nobody put on the nofly list
UNRULY IN THE AIR Regulator says no airline has yet called for ban on any flyer
NEWDELHI: No Indian flyer has yet been put on the government’s national no-fly list, eight months after the concept of such a list, for unruly passengers who pose a potential threat to other flyers too, was created and guidelines for it spelt out.
According to the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), airlines have to follow due process to put a person on the no-fly list, which will be maintained by it. That will ensure that the person doesn’t fly, not just on the airline that put him on the list, but on any airline.
“So far we have received no names. It shall be fruitful to go through regulation to appreciate the due process airlines need to follow,” DGCA chief BS Bhullar said on Sunday.
Interestingly, Jet Airways says Salla Birju , who posted a fake hijacking note in an aircraft’s toilet on October 30, has been put on the list, and that this has been communicated to the regulator. It is likely that Birju is
on the airline’s own no-fly list, and not on the national one.
In an April 16 reply to a Right to Information (RTI) request filed by Hindustan Times, the DGCA said: “The airlines shall maintain a database of all unruly passengers (after decision by the internal committee) and inform the same to DGCA/other airlines, which shall form a no-fly list. However, as per the records available, there are no people recommended for no-fly list by airlines as on date.” Bhullar’s comment
shows that there has been no update since.
The new rules came into effect on September 8, grading offences into three levels, with the ban period increasing with the severity of the infraction. Unruly physical gestures and verbal harassment, classified as a level one offence, can earn a passenger a flight ban of up to three months.
Physically abusive behaviour (pushing, kicking, hitting, inappropriate touching) will be pun- ishable by a ban of up to six months. Life-threatening behaviour — assaults, damage to aircraft systems — can lead to a ban for a minimum two years and can stretch indefinitely.
The rules were enforced within months of a Shiv Sena Member of Parliament, Ravindra Gaikwad, beating up an elderly Air India employee over the seat allotted to him. A video of the assault went viral on social media, triggering nationwide outrage. Shortly afterwards, the government said it would bring rules to tackle such behaviour and create a national no-fly list.
Since then there have been several instances of unruly behaviour by passengers, including Birju’s case and another where a 62-year old man harassed an air-hostess on a Vistara flight.
Concerns of a potential backlash from passengers may have made airlines reluctant, said a DGCA official.
The official, who asked not to be identified, added that most airlines tend to settle with passengers in cases involving unruly behaviour.
GULBARGA/KALBURGI: It is almost noon when home minister Rajnath Singh arrives in this Lingayat-dominated region to address his first meeting in the Karnataka election campaign. The local candidate warms up the audience that has been waiting for two hours. Then it is Singh’s turn. His point is simple but direct: how the Lingayats vote in North Karnataka may well decide the state’s next chief minister, he says.
Lingayats are the most dominant and politically influential community in the state, and make up around 15% of its population. They are concentrated in the northern parts of Karnataka.
That explains Singh’s presence here.
The senior-most member of Narendra Modi’s council of ministers, Singh is on the second leg of his campaign in the electionbound state. He has chosen to focus on the northern part, not far from Hyderabad, where indecision among Lingayats is worrying the BJP. His task is cut out: to convince Lingayats to stay with the BJP and vote for BS Yeddyurappa, the 75-plus former chief minister who comes from the same community. It was under Singh as the BJP president that the party formed its first government in the state in 2008.
What’s made Singh and the BJP’s job tougher is the decision by the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government to recognise Lingayatism as a separate religion, distinct from Hinduism. It’s a decision that has to be ratified by the centre, and its political impact is as yet unclear, but some experts are of the opinion that it is a smart political move by the chief minister. The BJP’s hopes rest on the Lingayats not deserting it and Yeddyurappa.
“There is a conspiracy to divide Lingayat in the name of separate religious status to them. Where was Siddaramiah sleeping for the last four years? This is to stop BS Yeddyurappa from becoming the chief minister,” Singh says in the meeting at Sedam assembly constituency of Kalaburgi district.
“The last time I was here, you gave us our first government. Do not disappoint us this time. The separate religion status is just a ploy to divide you all and stop Yeddyurappa,” Singh adds. The BJP candidate from Sedam is Rajkumar Patil , a Lingayat, who has lost three elections here by narrow margin and now depends on a consolidation among the community and anti-incumbency.
From Sedam, Singh takes a 20-minute helicopter ride to Afzalpur constituency.
“I am six-time MLA from the Congress and I have joined the BJP,” says MV Guttedar as he greets Singh at the helipad in Afzalpur. Such somersaults define the politics of north Karnataka and the fine calculation political parties are doing to win.
At Afzalpur, Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, a scheduled caste leader from Uttar Pradesh, waits for Singh on the dais. This region is a stronghold of Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge, a Scheduled Caste stalwart, and the BJP is desperate to queer his pitch. Guttedar is an arrow in the quiver, but Singh’s message is the same as it was in Sedam: Lingayats remain united.
“Bhagwan Basavana (the 12th century philosopher who laid down the tenets of the Lingayat religion) worked for upliftment of society. Now Congress is trying to divide Lingayats. It’s not Sidda Sarkar, it is a Nidde Sarkar (sleeping government). He (the CM) was sleeping for four years and woke up in the fifth to divide Lingayats. Don’t get carried away,” Singh said at the National Function Hall grounds.
The crowd erupts in cheers, as Singh attacks the Congress government for celebrating Tipu Sultan Jayanti. The BJP campaign in Karnataka has a clear Hindutva overtone, and Singh doesn’t mind speaking about the killing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and BJP workers in Karnataka.
His next stop is Chittapur. The local Congress candidate is Priyank Kharge, son of Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, and a popular face in Karnataka. Here Singh climbs down, then up again to garland a statue of Basavanna at a roundabout, showing no discomfort from a leg fracture he suffered last year. Here again, the message is the same: the Lingayats have to remain united if they want to see one of their own, Yeddyurappa, become the next chief minister.
By 5 pm, Singh is in Gulbarga town. A message from the pilot is passed on to him — they have to leave before the sun sets. But the response from the crowd forces him to stay on. He drives through the main road of Shahbad and speaks at another meeting. It’s once again about the Lingayat issue. “The Congress government at the centre in 2013 rejected a proposal for separate religion status for Lingayat. Don’t get swayed away by the divisive politics of Congress,” Singh says.