Dear friends,
This is to inform you that Sruti Disability Rights Centre & Human Rights Law Network (Kolkata unit) are jointly organising a Press Conference at Kolkata Press Club on 28th December 2013 at 4 p.m. Some of you are already aware that a disabled woman has been harassed in a bus recently in Kolkata which was widely covered by different newspapers. The woman and her daughter boarded a Picnic Garden-Howrah bus (WB04D8945) at Park Circus at 2.45pm. When the conductor came to collect the bus fare, she showed her government issued card which allows her to travel for free in public transportation. The conductor didn’t pay any heed to her and demanded that she should pay up immediately. She refused to pay and said that she would only pay for her daughter. On hearing this he warned her by saying that she wouldn’t be allowed to get down from the bus if she didn’t comply with his demand. Moreover, when she demanded that the seat reserved for the disabled to be evacuated for her, the conductor mocked her. When she tried to get down at her stop (Babughat), she was pushed and the conductor blocked the way and did not allow her to get down. The driver was an accomplice of the conductor and instead of letting her out, he sped away. None of the passengers came to her rescue. When the bus reached the last stop (Howrah), she was yet again threatened to get down but she refused. The woman called the control room and asked for help. The bus was brought to a halt on Brabourne Road-Canning Street crossing. Seeing the police the perpetrators tried to throw the woman off the bus but they didn’t succeed. The perpetrators were arrested and taken to Burrabazar police station where they were charged with molestation, intimidation and illegal confinement. This is to share with you that this is not a one-off incident and disabled people are often denied even getting on in buses, humiliated if they show disability card and even pushed off from the vehicle. There had been a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed on this issue and the Hon’ble High Court at Calcutta in a Public Interest Litigation being W. P. 17615 (W) of 2008, Integrated Disabled Employees’ Association (I.D.E.A.) –Versus- The State of West Bengal & Ors while dealing with a similar issue of harassment of a disabled traveler in a Private Bus in the city, passed orders to protect the rights of the disabled people with regard to transport accessibility. In spite of these orders, there has been deficient implementation of these directions. In the Press Conference, we will share with you the details of the PIL order and persons with disabilities will share their personal experiences. Please join us on 28th December (Saturday) at Kolkata Press Club at 4 p.m. to ensure right to movement of disabled citizens are ensured in our city. Sincerely, Shampa Sengupta (on behalf of Sruti) Advocate Debashis Banerjee (for HRLN) For more information, please call me at 9433174978. Shampa Sengupta Time to meet up again! Register for AccessIndia Convention 2014: http://accessindia.org.in/harish/convention.htm Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
