SpiceJet belittles physically-challenged activist Jeeja Ghosh

New Delhi, Feb 21: The aviation industry is going through some real turbulent times recently and in a case of apparent lack of sensitiveness to the physically challenged, SpiceJet is in the news for all the wrong reasons when the crew of the Goa-bound flight ordered Jeeja Ghosh, a teacher at the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy, Kolkata to deboard the plane.

She was asked to do so after they considered her unfit to travel alone taking into consideration that she herself suffered from cerebral palsy.

The incident that occurred at the Kolkata airport has angered activists and those fighting for equal rights for the disabled.

The NGO, Disabled Rights Group (DGR) has demanded stern action against the private airline. Jeeja was on her way to attend a conference in Goa when she had to face this humiliating treatment.

Javed Abidi, Convenor, DRG, joined the appeal to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to give stringent punishment to the airline and the pilot.

He commented, "Give an exemplary punishment. Make an example out of Spicejet. Hit them hard and hit them where it hurts. Levy a fine of at least Rs.1 crore. Suspend the pilot who discriminated against Jeeja and humiliated her."

The rights group has argued that this is not the first time that such sort of treatment has been meted out to them.

He added, "I seriously wonder as to how many more disabled people suffer each single day, humiliated and yet not reported. My safe bet is that for each reported case, there are at least 9 or 10 more that happened but never got reported."

OneIndia News