When will India really start to accommodate differently abled with respect? A recent incident that happened in Indian railway proves that we are still heading south in this regard.
Muhammed Afzal, a differently abled young man from Kerala was heading to Delhi as a part of his studies. He boarded the disability reserved coach in Golden Temple mail from Mumbai to Delhi. What he experienced then was something that broke him mentally and physically. A group of drunken hooligans boarded the same coach and started harassing the passengers, which included women and children. Once they started using abusive comments and sexually harassing usages against the women, and when they tried to handle physically, Afsal called for RPF help. But nothing happened, nobody came for the help.
”I can’t even recall the experience. It was really horrible and it broke me mentally than the physical difficulties that I faced. I called the railway protection force thrice, but none came to help. I even tried to pull the emergency chain. It was then one of them pulled my leg and started to handle me physically. I was afraid and alone” – Afsal said Maktoob Media.
Hooligans even blocked the toilet of the coach. Afsal and other co-passengers had to wait 7 long hours, reach H.Nizamudheen station to use a toilet facility. Afsal also said that when he tried to talk to the hooligans, they neglected him and raised the ‘Jai Sriram’ slogans. ”They were a group and we were in no position to question them” – he added.
Recently, there has been an increase in the graph of differently abled people who attend central universities. Many of them are doing the masters and doctoral degrees in leading national universities and it has been an encouragement for others to follow the same path. But this kind of incidents and experiences makes them more fearful and force them to live inside the box.
”Government claim that they are doing everything for us. They can’t even make sure that there is a policeman in a differently abled coach to help! even after complaining thrice to RPF, there is nobody to come and help in a public transport. Do we need a death or accident to act upon? I am a citizen like anybody else and I want justice. Can you help me to take this incident to authority so nobody else has to go through what I experienced? ” – Afsal asks the social media for help.
Read Afsals Post, which went viral on Social Media
#RPF and railway security customer care officials in north india are irresponsible . don’t expect any security and safety measures from their side. none of the government officials and general public obey rules. Customer care number “138, 182” is completely useless.
situation: i’ve faced lots of difficulties while traveling from Mumbai to Delhi in Disability reserved compartment of Golden temple mail. when the train entered to Rajastan, a large group of hooligans came inside and started making lots of Disturbances. to people with disabilities and female passengers, most of them were drunk and they were verbally abusing women. i called-up railway security customer care number for more than 3 times, even some of my friends also tried to file complaint on behalf of me. each time the railway officials told me that they have forwarded my complaint to RPF and they would take action when train reach next station. but no railway police officials were there to help. nobody would believe if i say that i couldn’t use toilet for more than 7 hours, just because of the illegal passengers inside our compartment and toilet. when the train reached faridabad station in hariyana, somehow i got down from the train just to find a place to pee. but again i got in to the train because there were nobody to help me. after a long time finally i used the toilet when the train was about to reach H.Nizamudheen station.
The hooligans group were shouting Jai Shriram and Jai krishna instead of listening to our request to leave the compartment. What is the point of calling god if you do bad things to people. when i tried to pull the chain, someone from them pulled my legs. i felt that they will attack me if i do something against them. anyway it was a horrible experience., what ever it may be, i am going to file a petition against the irresponsible railway/RPF officials. also i want to make sure that 1 or 2 policemen will be there in disability reserved compartment to provide better service to all the passengers with disabilities. please support me if you think this is a serious issue/concern.
Naseel Voici for Maktoob Media
