Disabled activist who helped frame air security rules made to get off wheelchair at Delhi airport

In an unexpected case, a disabled rights activist who helped frame the guidelines to make air travel easier for disabled passengers, was made to get off his wheelchair at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi. Javed Abidi, who is the chairperson of Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI), was asked to move as his wheelchair had to be X-rayed by the Central Industrial Security Force, which handles security at the airport, according to a report by The Times of India. [caption id=“attachment_2451656” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Javed Abidi. Image Credit: Twitter @javed_abidi[/caption] The incident happened on Wednesday when Abidi was on his way to board an Air India flight to Colombo for an official meeting. The CISF asked him for his wheelchair in order to screen it and when he protested, he was reportedly asked to comply or risk missing his flight, continues the report. “This is the first time I am experiencing such a humiliation. The officials started to off-load my luggage and prepared to escort me out of the airport. I finally get off the chair as I was to at tend a crucial meeting. What if it was some paralysed person or someone who couldn’t get off,” Abidi was quoted as saying by The Times of India. Ironically, Abidi was instrumental in framing rules for passengers with disability at airports in 2014. The rules were set to ensure that such people faced no discrimination. Sure enough, the report titled ‘ Non-discrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel’ clearly instructs CISF staff: “Do not force wheel chair users to stand from their wheel chairs” and “Use ETD (Explosive Trace Detector) to screen passenger’s wheelchair/scooter”. Meanwhile, CISF has maintained that it has its own set of rules to follow, and defended the decision to x-ray the wheelchair saying that the cushion was thick and had to be screened to ensure airport safety. “His cushion was unusually thick. We requested him to move to one of the airline’s wheelchair so that his chair could be screened, but he refused,” an official told The Times of India. They have also said that none of their personnel behaved rudely as alleged by Abidi. Abidi made his stand clear on Twitter when he retweeted a tweet by Disability News and Information Service about the incident.

#CISF does it again at Delhi airport, asks person on wheelchair to 'get off' http://t.co/ObA3WT5uN4 #CRPD #disabilities #a11y #Equality20

— NCPEDP (@ncpedp_india) October 1, 2015