In Yogi’s Uttar Pradesh, an old man denied entry in train because of his Gandhian attire

The Modi Government may have advocated Gandhipedia to sensitise the youth about the philosophy of Gandhiji, but in Yogi Adityanath’s Uttar Pradesh, a septuagenarian was not allowed to board the Shatabdi Express despite having a reserve ticket because of his attire.

The incident is reminiscent of what happened to Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa when he was thrown out of a train.

Baba Ram Awadh Das, 72, was denied entry into the reserved coach of Shatabdi Express by the coach attendant despite having a confirmed ticket to travel to Ghaziabad. His fault was he was attired in a dhoti and had a cloth bag along with an umbrella.

According to Das, he had a reserved ticket in coach C-2, seat number 72 on the 12033 Kanpur-New Delhi Shatabdi Express train on July 4. The train came at the Etawah station at 07:40 hours and he tried to board it. But the security personnel standing at the gate objected to his attire. Later, the security personnel, along with the coach attendant, cracked a joke at his attire and asked him to de-board the train.

"I showed them my ticket but they refused to listen to me. They forced me to alight the train. The train left after the two-minute stoppage and I was left stranded at the station," Das said.

Das met the station master, Prince Raj Yadav, and narrated the incident to him. The railway officer offered him a seat in Magadh Express which was to come next but Das refused his help, saying he had been insulted by the Railways and lodged a written complaint with the Railways.

Etawah railway station superintendent Puranmal Meena told reporters on Friday that Das had filed a written complaint. "I can't say much about the issue as I did not meet him. I only know what is written in the complaint book," he said.

Baba Ram Awadh Das is a native of Barabanki and was going to meet to his disciple in Ghaziabad.