For 37-year-old media professional Suranjana Ghosh,flying out of Mumbai on July 5 brought back the trauma she suffered about 15 years ago when she lost her left leg. An above-knee amputee,Ghosh went through a harrowing experience when CISF personnel at Mumbai airport cited norms and demanded she take off her artificial limb for a security check. Removing the prosthesis would have required her to strip waist down,which she finds extremely humiliating,she said. Ghosh and her mother were headed to Delhi when the incident took place. Ghosh told The Indian Express she had a similar experience in January 2011 when the CISF at Delhi airport forced her to remove her limb in the presence of women personnel. She did not file a complaint then,hoping it would not recur. But she changed her dress habits for air travel and began wearing tights and tunics instead of jeans and t-shirts. This time,Ghosh whose left leg was amputated in 1997 due to a condition called osteo sarcoma,a form of bone cancer fought back. During the security check,I was asked to remove my artificial leg and put it inside the X-ray scanner. I told the lady officer to use a hand-held explosive trace detector (ETD) instead. I even produced my original disability certificate with my photo ID and letters from the imported prosthesis manufacturer and my press identity card to support my plea, Ghosh said. But she could not convince the three CISF personnel at the spot,two of who were men. The fourth officer to arrive cited norms and said I would have to take off the limb in a separate enclosure. I found this disrespectful. And even humiliating, she said. After 30 minutes of pleading,she convinced the personnel who agreed to a ETD check and physical frisking. I am overwhelmed at the effort and the humiliation I was subjected to for something that should have been an easy process and could have been dealt with sensitively, Ghosh said,adding that she has decided to take up the matter with senior CISF officers. Reached for comment,Sanjay Prakash,DIG airport,(west zone),CISF,said he was aware of the incident but would decide on the course of action only after looking into the details. Asked about the norms the CISF personnel had cited,he said: While there is no rule that artificial limbs be taken off,it is essential that security personnel take due care while checking passengers. However,while doing so they should take a holistic view of the situation and not inconvenience passengers. Ghosh said she has travelled to many countries including Britain,the US,China,Japan,Singapore and France but never faced a similar situation. The security personnel abroad have been very accommodating, she said. If there is a lack of knowledge and insensitivity on the part of security personnel,then I want to bring about a change in the manner they are trained to deal with people with disability. There should be a standard security check for amputees at Indian airports which doesnt compromise the differently-abled passenger and satisfies security norms, she said.
