Hostile city police harass paraplegic activist from J&K

GUWAHATI: A paraplegic man on a countrywide mission to spread awareness about spinal injury, and how to prevent it, faced a rude shock while entering the northeast leg of his journey. All because of a Jammu & Kashmir registration plate.
Dildar Ahmed Shapo from Jammu & Kashmir embarked on his pan-India mission on August 19. Using a modified car to drive home his message, literally, Shapo travelled to Chennai, Rajasthan and much of north, east and central India as part of his solo campaign.
On Tuesday, when Shapo was on the northeast chapter of his campaign, hostility from city police left him shocked. He had entered the northeast four days previously and had no inkling of what lay in store for him in Guwahati.
“It (the harassment) began in Kokrajhar. I was asked to stop and questioned about my intentions. The fact that my car had a Jammu & Kashmir registration raised eyebrows. I am a paraplegic. I reckon that police here have no idea about the disability laws of the country,” said an angry Shapo.
Nowhere during his mission across the country had he faced the kind of inconvenience he did while entering the northeast via the chicken’s neck corridor of Siliguri in West Bengal.
Shapo’s ordeal in Guwahati began on Monday when he was driving in his specially-designed car with a ‘Prevent Spinal Injury’ slogan written in bold letters on each side of the vehicle. As he was driving through the Sarabhati locality, cops spotted his black car and directed him to pull over, said Shapo.
“I was asked to step out. They asked me why I was here and what my motive was. They were even asking about the specially-designed wheelchair that I had kept at the back of the car,” he added.
“That was not all. They (police) even asked me money for tea, a euphemism for bribe. I refused to pay and stood my ground. They asked me for my licence, registration and other papers. I
showed everything. In return, they told me that I would cause an accident in the city. It was so ridiculous. I have been driving across the India,” added Shapo.
A dejected Shapo on Tuesday began a long drive home after his friends and members of a voluntary organization advised him to cut short his northeast tour.