LIFE is challenging for the differently abled and most societies staking a claim to being civilised are legislating and going the extra mile to ensure people with disabilities are provided necessary facilities to enable them to lead as productive a life as anyone else.

First and foremost is the issue of accessibility. It is now against the law in many countries to have buildings without wheelchair access as otherwise those in wheelchairs can rightfully feel and claim they are being discriminated against.

It is heartening to see that many buildings with public access have ramps and lifts. And where there are practical difficulties, for example in putting in a ramp, innovative solutions have been found so those in wheelchairs are not alienated and can come in and leave just as those without a disability.

Let me state here I have a personal stake in the matter as I had polio at the age of three and I have walked nearly all my life with the help of a leg brace. Having had a couple of bad falls over recent years I find it impossible to walk long distances particularly when pressed for time.

Passing through Pakistan’s airport security can be an ordeal for those with disabilities.

That means at airports I usually order a wheelchair as I find it stressful and physically impossible to run to and from aircraft as most modern airports now seem designed to make passengers walk long distances both at the start and the end of their journey.

When security fears mounted post 9/11, there was a period when whether disabled, or otherwise, life at airports was very trying as often long queues were evidenced at security controls and seemingly ludicrous measures were introduced where nothing appeared designed to facilitate the passenger.

However, as newer and more effective airport security measures were introduced and fail-safe equipment was developed those staffing security controls gained in confidence that 9/11 type attacks were unlikely to be staged again.

Then, of course, newer measures were put in place again when law enforcement busted a terror plot, which involved the planned use of liquid explosives. In that period, I have a clear recollection how my wife was a picture of exasperation when at London Heathrow she was asked to drink from our daughter’s milk bottle.

I digress. Let me get to the point quickly. Last week, passing through Barcelona Airport I was reminded how wonderfully the Spanish treat people with disabilities. My wheelchair was waiting for me and I was taken through a security control dedicated to airline crew and passengers with mobility issues.

The polite security official asked me if I could get up. On being told yes he asked me whether he should take special care while frisking any particular area of my body that might be more vulnerable to pain. I said no. Even then the frisking was gentle.

Even before he started to pat me down, I started to explain that I was wearing a leg brace and he nodded as if to say he was already aware. Then he asked me to sit down in the wheelchair and asked his colleague for something.

The colleague swabbed my boots, parts of the leg brace and before going away asked me to wait for a minute. He seemed to insert the strip-swab into a machine. Very soon he gestured for me to move on and I was on my way. A short while later I reached the aircraft via a wheelchair-electric buggy-wheelchair combination.

This was not the only occasion where security staff swabbed my footwear and leg brace. I’d seen similar procedure at the Eurotunnel security check before driving our car onto the train at Dover for the Channel crossing to Calais. In that case, they’d swabbed different parts of the car such as the door handles and boot etc.

The swab is then inserted into an Explosives Trace Detection (ETD) device which can be a desktop version or handheld. It checks to see if the swab picked up any trace of explosives as all explosives are said to carry signature vapours.

This is said to be a cost-effective way of identifying someone who has handled explosives or a surface such a person may have touched. As opposed to this scientific method, whenever I have passed through security at Pakistani airports I have found the officials tentative and unsure.

This is a training issue and a leadership failure and no fault of the person deployed at security control as they have no idea of what to do. For example, I have been asked to take off my boot and brace when I am unable to do it in the time and space available.

On one occasion, an official wanted me to literally strip so he could be satisfied my leg brace and boot were not camouflaging a weapon or explosives. I flatly refused to suffer that indignity. Consultations with a few ‘Sir’ seniors, and he thought better of it and let me pass.

The Airport Security Force demonstrated its will and valour to do the right thing when terrorists attacked the Karachi airport in the summer of 2014. It held off the surprise terror assault and a dozen brave ASF personnel offered the ultimate sacrifice.

Bu what can its personnel do when instead of equipping them with ETD devices and training them to deal with passengers such as myself, the ASF bosses instead spend untold amounts on a device to check vehicles for explosives which is now discredited as it was fake.

Yes, we have all seen ASF personnel walking down the length of our vehicles at airports with something resembling a short-wave radios aerial fitted to a handle that fits into the palm. The aerial is supposed to dip if the car has explosives on board.

The device ‘developers’ who swindled some £80 million selling it to security forces in Iraq and elsewhere, including reportedly, the ASF in Pakistan were convicted several years back and are currently in a UK prison. So, the sooner we focus on the right thing the better it would be.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

abbas.nasir@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2019