Originally Posted by knit-in
And the staff was telling the Kashmiris, that they weren't Indians??! That's a feather in the caps of the seperatists!
But you're right in that it is hard to implement such a policy considering how difficuilt it is to ethnically differentiate between people from within the subcontinent. I suppose the policy is meant essentially for western tourists who are distinctly "foreign"
.
FWIW, NRIs are supposed to pay the non-Indian rates as well.
That "feather in the cap" (of being labelled as non-Indian) is exactly what they were complaining about -- i.e., either they were Indian or they were not. The irony of the matter was that one of the Kashmiris, and the one being "bounced" was the son/grandson of a former Rajya Sabha member from a political party that could never be deemed a "separatist" party of any sort.
Yes, NRIs are supposed to pay the non-Indian rate but many get around it.
Last night I was with another colleague of mine from the US and some people he thought were "Filipino" came in. Upon hearing their accent and eavesdropping
, it was very apparent to me that they were from "Nagaland" and there to meet with Home Ministry officials. He asked how I knew. I said the names of places they were talking about and their accent was sufficient for me to determine with which part they were likely to have been associated (currently or previously).
I understand the part of dual-pricing in order to make visits for Indians affordable, so perhaps there should be a "suggested" donation for Indians and an alternative suggested donation for non-residents. Well, I have a bigger gripe with dual-pricing in airfare. (FWIW or not worth, the EU countries pull the same stuff where EUites get lower admission or free admission while we Americans are required to pay up if we don't have ID issued by some EU member's government.)