IndiGo stops specially-abled teenager from boarding flight in Ranchi, fellow passenger narrates tale of 'discrimination'

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Published : May 8, 2022, 7:36 PM IST

IndiGo stops specially-abled teenager from boarding flight, fellow passenger narrates tale of 'discrimination'

A fellow passenger, in a detailed Facebook post on Sunday, narrated the whole matter calling it "an incident of discrimination and shame" and shared some pictures and a video of fellow passengers questioning the airline's diktat.

Hyderabad: Low-cost Indian carrier IndiGo is at the centre of controversy for refusing to let a specially-abled boy and his parents board a plane in Ranchi on Saturday.

A fellow passenger, in a detailed Facebook post on Sunday, narrated the whole matter calling it "an incident of discrimination and shame" and shared some pictures and a video of fellow passengers questioning the airline's diktat.

Manisha Gupta, who said she was travelling by the same flight, shared an elaborate post on Facebook about how IndiGo stopped the specially-abled teenager and his parents from boarding the flight because the adolescent had a slight meltdown.

"Yesterday, at the Ranchi airport, an adolescent with special needs, was in great distress. He had had a very uncomfortable car ride to the airport. By the time he had gone through security check and reached the gate (almost an hour ahead of boarding), he seemed to be in the throes of hunger, thirst, anxiety and confusion," Manisha wrote in the post.

His parents, she said, knew how to handle his meltdown "with patience, some cajoling, some stern-ness, many hugs etc". The other passengers were stopping by to ask if they needed any help or support, she said. "This caught the attention of the IndiGo airlines staff, who walked up to the trio, and warned them that he would not let them board, if the child did not quieten down and become 'normal'," Manisha's post read.

"By the time the boarding began, the child had been fed. He had had many sips of juice and water. His parents had successfully given him his medicine and he seemed ready...except for some big displays of general teenage assertiveness. Then we witnessed the full display of brute authority and power," she said.

The Indigo staff, according to Manisha, announced that the child would not be allowed to take the flight because he was a "risk to other passengers". "That he would have to become 'normal', before he could be travel-worthy. And the staff then went on to state something on lines of 'behaviours such as this, and that of drunk passengers, deems them unfit to travel.'," the post read.

The other passengers opposed this diktat from the airline and assured the staff that as co-travellers, they had no objection to the child and his parents boarding the flight. Several went on to the IndiGo airline website and challenged the IndiGo manager to calibrate his decision with corresponding statements in the rule book.

"There was a delegation of doctors who were taking the same flight. They asked the ground staff to get the airport doctor and let him/her take a call on the fitness of the child to travel. They offered to provide full support to the child and his parents, if any health episode were to occur mid-air. 'We are doctors traveling with this child and his family. Now let him board', they said," Manisha wrote.

Also read: JK: Struggling physically challenged persons hit the streets against govt apathy

Other doctors, teachers, government officials emerged from the widening ring of passengers. They held up their mobile phones with news articles, Twitter posts on supreme court judgments on how no airline could discriminate against passengers with disabilities.

"This child is in uncontrollable. He is in a state of panic," the IndiGo manager, according to Manisha, kept shouting and telling everyone. "But all we could see was a young adolescent, sitting very quietly on a wheel chair, terror-striken by how he was being called out as a risk to the normal world.

"I am a government official and I can tell you that it is this child's right to travel. You cannot discriminate against him," a senior passenger said. "This is my decision and you cannot do anything about it," the manager said very sharply, according to the Facebook post.

"Threats, pleas, dialogue, negotiations, hands folded in request --- nothing from the parents and circle of passengers worked in the face of that one person who had made up his mind last evening to fully exercise his power to exclude those who did not belong to his world of 'normal', and 'fit' people," she said.

Then, at the end of it all, the IndiGo flight from Ranchi to Hyderabad departed, "leaving behind three courageous Indians at the boarding terminal, who probably fight everyday for love, respect and dignity". The security guard, Manisha said, locked and secured the boarding gate with an iron padlet and chains, even as the mother pleaded from the other side of the glass door. "The other passengers, including us, slowly dispersed to catch our own flights," she said adding, "It was late night. Ours was probably the last flight out. As I stepped into the chute to board, I caught a last glimpse of this family - a father, mother and child on a wheelchair, standing alone in a large, empty and deserted terminal, ring-fenced by airport staff and security."

"As I write this, all I remember is that in those 45 minutes of argument, temper, rage and contestation, the three had not once lost their dignity or raised their voice or spoken one irrational word. Not for a moment did they come across as unbeaten. "Do you know what it means to be a parent?," the mother had asked the airline manager. "Do you think as a mother, I would ever let my child harm himself or anyone?"" Manisha wrote.

She concluded: "What unfolded last evening at the Ranchi evening was a snapshot of us . Us as a 'no country for mothers. Us as a 'no country for children'. No country for mothers who are different, No country for mothers who are raising children who are different. IndiGo - you are a disgrace to this country."

The matter was flagged on Twitter as well. Former Amnesty India chief Aakar Patel retweeted author Natasha Badhwar's tweet highlighting the discrimination. The tweet read: "A shocking, unlawful incident of discrimination by @IndiGo6E at Ranchi airport. Reported by Manisha Gupta, witnessed by hundreds of co-passengers. #DisabilityRights"

Meanwhile, IndiGo came up with an official statement on the entire incident. "In-view of the safety of passengers, a specially-abled child could not board the flight with his family on May 07, as he was in a state of panic. The ground staff waited for him to calm down till the last minute, but to no avail. The airline made the family comfortable by providing them hotel stay and the family flew next morning to their destination. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers. IndiGo prides itself on being an inclusive organisation, be it for employees or it's customers; and over 75k specially-abled passengers fly with IndiGo every month," the statement read.

Also read: IndiGo flight take off delayed over tiff between two fliers in UP's Varanasi

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