Indian origin Woman Aravinda Pillalamarri, the inspiration for “Swades”, was stopped by the police during her morning stroll in her hometown and was questioned about her immigration status by making her feel unequal because of her colour, media reports.
Pillalamari was stopped near her home in the Bel Air in Maryland by a police officer after a neighbour had reported her as suspicious.
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Pillalamarri said that, “I had just come out for a walk, so I didn’t have my ID. And he said, ‘Why don’t you have ID? Are you here illegally?’.” “I didn’t expect this to happen in Bel Air. Walking while brown?” she said.
The official replied: “No, no, no, nothing like that.”
The incident took place on December 21 and Pillalamarri, 47, said about it at a town commissioners board meeting earlier this month in Bel Air, where she had lived for 30 years.
When she asked if it was because of “walking while brown?” a police supervisor told her that she “was under criminal investigation”.
After checking her name on their computer system, Pillalamarri was allowed to go.
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“Only when the supervisor asked ‘are you here illegally’ did my sense of colour, and of being unequal, come forth and interest in my civil rights take a back seat to get out of the situation safely,” she said to the town commissioners.
Bel Air Police chief Charles Moore defended the official and said, “They were trying to figure out why there was some hesitation in providing identification, that’s why he asked if she was illegal”.
By Premji
