The NRHC has issued notices to the Karnataka government chief secretary and the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited managing director, seeking a detailed report in four weeks.
The farmer was denied entry due to his attire. (Screengrab)
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sent notices to the Karnataka government and the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation over a report that a farmer was allegedly “stopped” from boarding a metro train by an official at a station because his clothes were “untidy”, it said on Wednesday, 28 February.
The NHRC, in a statement, said it observes that “no person can be denied access to public transport based on the nature of the clothes he or she is wearing”.
The commission has taken “suo motu cognisance of a media report that a farmer was stopped from boarding a metro train by an official at the Rajajinagar station, Bengaluru in Karnataka because his clothes were untidy. Reportedly, the video of the incident went viral on social media,” it said.
The NHRC observed that the content of the media report, if true, amounts to a violation of human rights. If someone possesses any objectionable material, only then can he be stopped, according to the provisions of the law, it added.
It has issued notices to the Karnataka government chief secretary and the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) managing director, seeking a detailed report in four weeks.
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