The Delhi Customs on Monday claimed that Yana Mir, a Kashmiri journalist and activist, felt needlessly offended after she was asked to get her bags scanned at Delhi’s IGI airport, adding that bag scanning of international passengers is done routinely and the “privileges are not above law”.
The response from the Delhi Customs came after Yana Mir posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) of her bag checking by the customs officials on arrival at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport.
“Bag scanning of international passengers is done routinely. While other paxs put their luggage inside the scanner without any fuss. Ms. Yana Mir felt needlessly offended. Staff remained courteous throughout.Privileges are not above law. Footage tells the story. The department also shared video footage in its reply supporting its claim,” the Delhi customs wrote on X while sharing video footage to support its claim.
“Ms Yana Mir didn’t cooperate at all when requested to get her bags scanned. Her luggage was ultimately picked up by airline staff and Customs officer for scanning as seen in the footage,” the department said in another post.
However, in reply to the Delhi customs’ posts, Yana Mir said, “You can see CLEARLY IN THE FOOTAGE as soon as i was told to scan i went to the machine. High handed, arrogant, entitled, govt employees thought its below their dignity to help me put the heavy suitcase on the machine, or help me me put it back in the trolley.”
Earlier on Monday, Yana Mir had shared a post along with the video of the bag scanning that had gone viral.
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“How I was welcomed back to India: Madam scan your bag, open your bag, why you have Louis Vuitton shopping bags? Did you pay for them? Where are the bills????
“What Londoners think of me: INDIAN MEDIA WARRIOR. What Delhi customs thinks of me: Brand Smuggler,” the Kashmir-based journalist added.
Yana Mir’s ‘safe in India’ speech in UK Parliament
Interestingly, Yana Mir’s post comes days after she strongly denounced the propaganda mechanism by Pakistan to “dent India’s image on the international stage” and said she was completely safe and free in “Kashmir, which is a part of India”.
In her statement at the ‘Sankalp Divas’ hosted by the UK Parliament in London, Yana Mir urged the international media to “stop dividing” the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Yana Mir went on to say that she “is not Malala Yusufzai”, who had to flee her country because of severe threats of terrorism, as her country will always stay strong and united against the forces of terrorism.
“I am not a Malala Yusufzai, because I am free and safe in my country, India. In my homeland, Kashmir, which is part of India. I will never need to run and seek refuge in your country. I will never be a Malala Yusufzai but I object to Malala for defaming my country, my progressive homeland, by calling it oppressed. I object to all such toolkit members from social media and international media, who have never cared to visit Indian Kashmir but fabricate stories of oppression from there,” Yana Mir said in the UK Parliament.
(With inputs from agencies)
