Life has not been an easy journey for 18-year-old P. Ayyappan of Tirunelveli. Born with a hearing impairment, he managed to overcome it to a significant extent through speech therapy.
His childhood dream was to become an engineer. When the Kalasalingam University near Srivilliputtur in Virudhunagar district introduced a pioneering six-year integrated B. Tech course for the speech and hearing impaired in 2007, it brightened his hope of realising his dream. He managed to get admission to the B. Tech course on July 4 and spent a day with his classmates.
The next afternoon, however, the teenager was asked to remain in his hostel room. The university authorities called his parents to say that the parents of other students had objected to their children studying with Ayyappan, because he had vitiligo or patches of white skin on his body.
Non-infectious
His mother P. Hemavathi tried in vain to convince the authorities that it was not a contagious disease.
She produced a medical certificate from an Assistant Professor in the Department of Dermatology, Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, that said “vitiligo is non-infectious and will not spread by contact.”
The doctor said it was nothing but loss of pigmentation and that the boy should be allowed to pursue his studies. However, the medical certificate failed to evoke any positive response.
When The Hindu contacted Vice-Chancellor M. Venkatesulu on Tuesday, he said the university had not taken a final decision on the student’s studies. However, Ayyappan was not allowed to attend classes and asked to remain in the hostel.
On Wednesday, the authorities asked his mother to take him home. The Vice-Chancellor could not be reached on his mobile phone on Wednesday afternoon.
“I don’t understand how the university can ask my son to leave the institution, when the tuition and hostel fees have been paid,” Ms. Hemavathi said. Kalasalingam University was the only institution offering the unique programme and he had no choice but to continue there.
“They say they are ready to take him next year if he gets cured,” she added. The university authorities have informed her that she would be apprised of the future course of action after a week over phone.
Discrimination
“This is nothing but sheer discrimination by the university authorities on the basis of leucoderma, which is only de-pigmentation of skin due to auto-immune disorder,” secretary of Chennai-based Leucoderma Awareness Movement, K. Umapathy, said.
He cited a State government order of December 27, 2010, stating that vitiligo, also called leucoderma, was neither an infectious nor a hereditary disease.
The university’s action was a rights violation and unconstitutional, he said.
Stating that there were misconceptions about vitiligo, Mr. Umapathy said the movement would approach the Departments of Health, School Education and Higher Education, seeking suitable orders that no child should be discriminated by schools and colleges on the basis of vitiligo.
“We want the government to stop denial of admission to such students,” he added.
