Horrific incident faced by the travelers with deafblindness while on official work.


We would like to share two incidences of discrimination caused by  #REDBUS & MakeMyTrip. Hope these service providers make notice of these discriminations on travelers with disabilities.
 
Sunil Abbas - General Secretary of SEDB and Zamir Dhale -The founder President of #SEDB India, the trust run by deafblind people in the country. They travelled in AC #redbus from Pune to Nasik. The bus driver was very rash and drove very fast. There was a slow moving lorry ahead of us. The lorry suddenly stopped and the bus driver tried to apply brakes but because of the speed with which the bus was moving, it hit the lorry and stopped with a jolt.The windshield cracked and the headlights got damaged. Our foreheads were hit and we were all in a state of shock. We got down and waited on the road of the expressway for another bus. Unfortunately the alternate bus wasn’t working. We somehow managed to reach Nasik later in the evening safely.
 
We finished our work in SBI bank in Nasik for SEDB and returned back to Mumbai for some official work there. Later that night (13th April 2022) by 11.30pm we checked in at the Happy A/C Dormitory Inn opposite Jogeshwari railway station. But the receptionist was both surprised and shocked to learn that we were deaf and also blind customers. He asked us to cancel our booking at #makemytrip and find another dormitory. We said we couldn't do so. Also we requested the receptionist to refund back if he wants us to cancel but he refused. Since it was done through the #makemytrip platform. Since we booked the dormitory and didn’t get a refund we insisted on staying in AC dormitory. But the receptionist and his team grabbed us, took our luggage and threw us out. Sunil tried to explain the inconvenience and make them understand the problems of deafblind. But they refused to listen. The manager abused and shouted, grabbed his hand 3 times and tried to push him out. Bhausaheb, our colleague who is deaf was scared and asked us to leave. But we insisted that it's our right to stay as we booked the dormitory and stayed. They switched off the fan for Sunil, he suffered but was patient, not to confront again to get thrown out. Manager asked Bhausaheb to stay with us in a non-AC dormitory. Though we booked an AC dormitory we suffered in the hot humid night of Mumbai. We had no choice but to stay in non ac and face hardships. My question is why the receptionist and his senior management, being muslims did not respect and not help deafblind customers. They refused to welcome us to stay comfortably. We are also of the same religion that too while holding fast(Roza) they behaved in such an inhumane manner. They did not understand deafblind customers. They threatened us that they would call the police and throw us out of the room. I think that they are not Muslims, they did not respect Allah in this holy month. Receptionists and management should understand disabled customers also need to stay comfortably. We argued for more than 3 hours. They don’t have awareness on disability, They think that deaf blind customers may not see and will not know how to manage daily living and personal hygiene independently such as using the toilet and how to breathe themselves.They thought that deafblind people need full support and care taking. This is discrimination. We will file a complaint in the police station against them. That they mocked and insulted us.   
 

Thanks and Regards,
 
Zamir Dhale | Founder Director
Society For The Empowerment Of The Deaf-Blind (SEDB), India
 

URL: www.sedbindia.org
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