11 Sep 2019  |   04:12am IST

Is our humanity getting disabled?

Yet another episode involving a physically disabled person, a US citizen, with Indian roots, and a disability rights activist to boot, Virali Modi, was harassed to the point of torture at the Delhi International Airport by a lady personnel of the CISF. The incident has sent shockwaves across the country. Café spoke to people in Goa including disability rights activists to map their shock and justifiable anger

 

It seems to happen with alarming regularity. Sometimes

it is a visually impaired individual treated with disdain in a public space or a physically disabled individual pushed around by an unsympathetic public. Yet another unfortunate incident occurred recently at the Delhi airport. Virali Modi, a wheelchair-bound US citizen and disability rights activist, had a harrowing time at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday. She was allegedly harassed by a CISF woman constable who insisted that she should stand for mandatory security check procedure. The CISF woman constable went as far as to say that she ought to stop doing drama. Virali cannot walk or stand and has been paralysed after a spinal cord injury since 2006. The episode ended when a senior staff member came over, conducted a manual check and let her go. This rather sordid episode begs the question, why does it happen? Have we become so insensitive to the feelings and emotions of the physically and visually disabled?

Avelino de Sa the man behind the Disability Rights Association of Goa said it was obvious the personnel were not sensitised to a person with disability. He said “The government should take strict action. The humiliation of a person with disability is a criminal offence under sec 92 of the rights of person disability 2016. This cannot be tolerated. When people see the government get tough on such behaviour, it will then make people think twice before acting in such a manner.”

The general attitude towards the differently-abled is generally mixed, a bit of sympathy with a mix of cross-eyed initiatives that generally create more confusion. Dr Nandita D Souza, the head of SETHU, one of the best Goa-based organizations in the country, that works with child development and family guidance said, “Sensitisation and disability awareness training of all staff at airports is a must. Discrimination against those with different abilities is unfortunately very common. Most of the instances arise from ignorance about disability and special needs. Therefore, training and awareness building can create a more compassionate and inclusive society.”

For visually impaired Ankit Jindal the man who is behind the app Mera Mitra for persons with disability to help learn their rights said he was not surprised by the incident. He said “It is not given priority and the training is neglected. We don’t have the sympathy of society generally. One has to also understand the CRPF has huge challenges and we are not a priority. There is equipment which is available which will make our life easier in a public space but it is not available. This lady has been courageous and reported her experience. Every second flight in India has a person who is differently-abled, who faces a problem and lets it pass.” He also felt the problem was that there was this general feeling that the differently-abled did not lead lives like others in the sense, they did not go on holidays or travelled.

Mathew Kurien of Elshaddai, another Goa organisation which works with children summed up in one word. He said “Terrible.” He then went on to slam the presence of the various security personnel at the airport. He questioned the need to keep them there. He said “If you travel around the world you do not see such security at airports. What happened to that girl was a total violation of her human rights. They need to be trained.”