BENGALURU: A farmer wearing a traditional dhoti and shirt, aged around 60, was denied entry to GT Mall in Bengaluru. The farmer and his son has gone to the mall to watch a movie on Tuesday, but the security personnel deemed his attire inappropriate for entry.
In a video that went viral on social media, the farmer can be seen being humiliated. The incident occurred around 6 pm on Tuesday when Nagaraj from Haveri, along with his father, went to GT Mall on Magadi Road to watch a movie.
The mall staff barred the duo at the main entry because Nagaraj's father, a farmer, was dressed in traditional farmer attire. Despite pleading with the staff for over half an hour, they were still refused entry. When Nagaraj questioned the supervisor, he replied that higher authorities had given them orders. The incident sparked outrage on social media.
Meanwhile, pro-Kannada activists and other organisations condemned the act and demanded police action.
The farmer's association state president, Kuruburu Shanthakumar, said that the incident of denying entry to a farmer due to his attire at GT Mall is a matter of disgrace. The Bengaluru police must take strict action against the mall owner immediately. The mall owners should apologize to the farmer; otherwise, hundreds of farmers from the state would protest at the mall. He questioned whether they can run the mall without farmers. If the mall owners were eating food, they wouldn’t have acted this way. "Farmers are the backbone of the country," he said.
Recently, a farmer in Bengaluru was denied access to the Namma Metro due by the security personnel deeming his attire “inappropriate” for travel. The incident later led to the dismissal of a security supervisor.