Air India’s Cruel Behaviour Has Driven A Young Trans Woman To Ask For A ‘Mercy Killing’

Constant rejection by interviewers of Air India have driven a young transgender woman to want to end her life. Shanavi Ponnusamy, who sought for a position in the cabin crew of the national airline, told The News Minute that she had applied four times, only to be turned away. No explanations given.

From a low-income group family in rural Tamil Nadu, she worked hard and became the first graduate of her family, an engineer, a model, and an actor. In 2013, she began working in customer support for Sutherland Global Services. But when she approached Air India for a job, her aspirations were completely and ruthlessly dashed to the ground.

Ponnusamy took the case right up to the Supreme Court, which then sought a reply from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air India. Though the court set a limit of four weeks, there hasn’t been a peep from either one. And that was in November 2017. Even though she decided to fight it out, her court dates keep getting pushed from December in 2017 to January this year to the coming May. Worse still, she says she was asked to pay the advocate a fee of Rs. 50,000! To that, she says, “I am struggling to make ends meet here, where will I get that kind of money?”

As a result, the young woman has been backed into a corner. In a truly heartbreaking Facebook video uploaded by Ponnusamy, she explains how she was deliberately kept out of Air India, despite having all the qualifications. At the end of the video, the visibly distraught Ponnusamy asks the President of India to grant her a mercy killing.

Many Indians have hailed the Trans Bill 2016 as a step in the right direction. Forget about its many, many, many (!) shortcomings, the existence of the Bill has not, as was expected by some, altered the horrifying ground reality of trans people in India.

The discrimination is widespread. Not too long ago, the Kochi Metro Rail’s decision to hire transgender staff flopped horribly when the staff were refused housing near their place of work. Why? Because transphobia of course. And look at Delhi University. Despite openly putting the category “transgender” on its admission forms since 2014, even the few trans students who applied were forced to drop out for the same reason.It appears that the Indian justice system, which in any case proceeds at a sluggish pace, is helpless in the face of personal prejudice and transphobia. What else can explain Ponnusamy’s predicament, especially after her appeal in the highest court of the land?

Remember Ponnusamy and the Kochi metro staff the next time someone argues that marginalised persons (not necessarily just trans people, but religious minorities, Dalits, SC and ST people) have so much affirmative action in their favour. It does not matter how many seats are reserved, how many job openings are created, or how many proclamations companies make about diversity. Why haven’t many trans people been ‘mainstreamed’ yet? It’s because of the deadly combination of a lack of opportunity and the spectre of discrimination.

The bitter truth is that inclusive workplaces are rare finds. Over and above that, affirmative action can do little to change things. In a situation like that, people like Ponnusamy are made into second-class citizens, rendered completely helpless, and driven to suicide. So much for the government protecting the rights of Indian citizens.