T2 guard complains about torn tricolour, gets banned from work

Shahina Pathan

A 22-year-old security guard at Terminal 2 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has claimed that her patriotism cost her her job, after she was vociferous in her complaints about a torn tricolour being flown at the newly opened terminal.

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The 22-year-old woman, who was working with Tops Security for the past five months, had been stationed at T2 in the women's security cell. For the past two days, however, she has been cooling her heels at home at the orders of her superiors at work, who did not take kindly to her complaint to the police about a torn flag being flown outside T2.

Tricolour trouble: Pathan (inset) filed the complaint against Tops Security's branch manager and the land site officer of the Airports Authority of India. File pic

After approaching various authorities to save her job, Shahina Abdul Aziz Pathan approached Sahar police station and filed the complaint in writing against Tops Security's branch manager and the land site officer of the Airports Authority of India.

Pathan said that the national flag hoisted outside T2 often gets torn. File pic

Pathan said, "On Monday, I was on duty at T2 when I noticed that the flag was torn. This happens often, after which the information is passed on to the land site office, so it can be replaced immediately. I informed the concerned authorities. Since they ignored the matter, I decided to inform the police."

She added, "After this, my seniors became furious with me, and said they would oust me from my job. I am a sincere and responsible citizen of India. I demand that serious action be taken against the authorities for this. Even after delays in salary, I continued to work for five months with the security agency at T2. I come from a poor family and want my job back."

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Subodh, a land site officer at T2, said, "It is not in our hands to expel or remove any security guard from the airport. We have a contract with Tops Security and they handle these matters."

After mid-day rang up Tops Security branch manager Ravi Ranawat, he arrived at Sahar police station to render his clarification, saying, "We have not removed her from the job. She has been on leave for two days. Even we have requested her to rejoin work with immediate effect. We don't have any personal animosity towards her."

Senior Police Inspector Ravindra Patil of Sahar police station said, "Since she had registered her complaint in writing, I will have to check. I will call her if the matter is related to the National Flag."