An Indian Paralympic medallist was stripped at two airports recently when security personnel asked him to remove his prosthetic leg and clothes. Aditya Mehta, a para-cyclist who is an above-the-knee-amputee and also the winner of two silver medals at the 2013 Asian Paralympics, was asked to remove his prosthetic leg at the Bangalore and Delhi airports.
Mehta described his experiences on social media. "This is ridiculous. Another bad day. ...Despite all the campaigning since four days, I was again asked to remove my prosthetic leg during security check at the Delhi Airport,'' he said, referring to his trip to Bangalore to promote the Aditya Mehta Foundation that works with differently-abled sportspersons.
"A rude sub-inspector didn't have the courtesy to talk politely. He was adamant that he is not going to let me go until I take off my prosthetic limb for security check."
Mehta said that it was really humiliating for him to receive such treatment. "...Is this the kind of treatment given to physically-challenged persons?',' he said in a post addressed to Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapati Raju. "I am usually not perturbed by such behaviour, but the attitude with which I was forced to remove my limb put me down terribly."
Mehta said that he has filed a complaint with the CISF while asking them to behave properly with passengers. He also asked airport officials why they don't have full body scanners that would not force disabled individuals to remove their prosthesis. Their response to his query was that they don't have the budget to buy such equipment.
However, officials maintained that the screening process for Mehta had followed the security guidelines of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security of India (BCAS).
"The rules do not exempt the screening of prosthesis so we have no choice but to check them.
While there is an ongoing discussion on whether a prosthetic limb should be checked with or without removing it, the BCAS is yet to take a final decision on the same,'' a Directorate General of Civil Aviation official was quoted as saying to the Times of India.
