(Image credits: Instagram @pateldhruvee)
A group of 56 Indian travellers was subjected to “most inhuman behaviour” by Georgian authorities while trying to enter the country from Armenia, a woman alleged in a viral social media post Tuesday.In a post on Instagram, user Dhruvee Patel said the group, despite holding valid e-visas and documents, faced humiliation and prolonged detention at the Sadakhlo border, the primary land crossing between Armenia and Georgia. She claimed they were “made to wait 5+ hrs in the freezing cold – no food, no toilet.” Patel further alleged that officials “confiscated passports for 2+ hrs with no communication” and forced the travellers to sit on the footpath “like cattle.” She said the authorities even recorded videos of them “like criminals” but stopped them from filming the incident. Their documents, she added, were not even checked, with officials simply declaring the visas “wrong.”Calling the treatment “shameful & unacceptable,” Patel tagged PM Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar in her post, writing, “India must take a strong stand.” She ended her post with a sharp rebuke: “This is how Georgia treats Indians. Shameful & unacceptable!”The post received mixed reactions online, with many Indians sharing similar ordeals. One user commented, “I’ve actually had so many civilised friends visit Georgia and had the same treatment… Trust me, it has nothing to do with civic sense or anything cause these girls were dressed very smartly, spoke softly and were extremely polite. The officials are just rude.”While one user remarked, “Depends. Were they squatting and eating Khakra at the airport while dancing to garba? Coz I have seen it!” another questioned, “When this behaviour has been consistent from Georgia then why do Indians keep going there.”A traveller who visited Georgia in 2019 shared a more mixed perspective. They recalled hearing similar stories before their trip but said they were eventually granted entry and went on to enjoy a “dream visit.” Still, they added, “from the last many years they are creating problems for Indians, that’s a sad story.”
