NSCI Delhi is out of bounds for 'servants': Another shameful manifestation of elitism

In another shameful manifestation of elitism in our society, the National Sports Club of India (NSCI), Delhi has apparently decided that domestic helps and “servants” employed by their esteemed members aren’t worthy of being granted admission into the club.

A notice was seen pinned on the campus of the NSCI that “ayahs and servants” are not allowed inside, as noted lawyer and social activist, Indira Jaisingh pointed out through a tweet.

Shameful in the capital at NSCI club round the corner from Supreme Court pic.twitter.com/devnoRqTgV

— Indira Jaising (@IJaising) August 9, 2016

As Jaisingh tweeted out the picture of the notice, tweeples outraged against the apparent discrimination and the elitist approach behind such an act.

A Twitter user said that NSCI is a disgrace to the nation while many others pointed out that the notice was ironically reminiscent of the British era, when rampant racial and class-based discrimination was a typical phenomenon.

this notice remind us British era wen thy put notices lyk dogs nd Indian r not allowed but some ppl still live in that era shame

— Rajendra Goenka (@rkgoenka) August 9, 2016

Is this 1936 #British #India or 2016?

— WifaqulUlama (@WifaqulUlama) August 9, 2016

Notices like “Dogs and Indians are not allowed,” were put out to emphasise how only a section of the society was entitled to access certain areas. Arguably, the psyche behind such measures in that age was to humiliate the people, the British officials deemed they ‘ruled.’ Today, 69 years after Independence, when we boast to be the largest democracy, how NSCI would reason out this act would be interesting to see.

It wasn’t clear through Jaisingh’s tweet whether a specific section of the club was cordoned off for “ayahs and servants”, or were they barred from entering the precincts of NSCI, but little does it matter. That a section of public area (or private property) debars entry to someone on the basis of race, class and prejudice is a disgrace to the civil society.

However, this was not the only incident when such rampant discrimination came to the public eye. In June this year, a prominent restaurant in the posh circles of Delhi came under flak as it allegedly denied entry to underprivileged children accompanied by a Delhi-based writer Sonali Shetty. She had decided to treat a few underprivileged children to celebrate her husband’s birthday. Though she was ready to pay for the kids, they were denied services simply because they looked too poor to be the part of the elite urbane.

“The owner discriminated with the kids and refused service citing that kids aren’t well dressed and look dirty,” Shetty said.

Since Shetty raised alarm, swift media coverage pumped up the issue on a national scale, and the Delhi government ordered an enquiry, if only to save face. How many such incidents happen right under our nose as we decide to look the other way, is quite another matter.

Such a culture not only exposes the shallowness of the elitist social construct but also mocks the very idea of a egalitarian society. Perhaps, the ferocious sense of entitlement, the rich carry is at the roots of such discrimination.

From a privileged vantage point, we even tend to romanticise poverty to such an extent that concepts like poverty tourism and slum visits have grown into business options, often in the garb of charity.

However, it is not that the discrimination rife in our society is only class-based. Headlines are sprinkled with the news of racial discrimination against the people from North East India. A scuffle between students from North East and locals is heard quite often at most campuses in Delhi.

Neither are we any kinder to the  differently-abled.

According to a report by  NDTV , a Delhi-based entrepreneur alleged that another upscale restaurant in the capital denied his brother entry because he was on a wheelchair. “As a policy, we don’t allow people on wheelchair”, he was told when he asked the reason. He also alleged that the security “started pulling” his wheelchair_._

Delhi being the seat of administration and the national capital is much more under the spotlight. When such incidences are reported from the capital, the state of interior parts of the country, which does not summons equal outrage from the media, can only be imagined.