Thread by @JayantMahadevan

@Somnath_Temple @socialpwds @RamdasAthawale @KPGBJP @PTI_News @narendramodi @drharshvardhan

The price my daughter paid for a vision of God !!!

I write this thread to describe a shocking incident that occurred this evening at Shri Somnath Temple at Gujarat, which made me feel extremely sad and angry

My wife, daughter and I had gone for a visit to the temple. My daughter is 5 years old and was born deaf. She underwent a bilateral cochlear implant surgery at the age of 1 to help her to hear.

A cochlear implant is a device which helps people with severe deafness to be able to hear. It has an external part which receives sound (Shown in the video).

As we were entering the temple, we were stopped by the police who said that my daughter cannot go in with her hearing device as "electronic items" are not allowed inside the temple.

Ironically, all security personnel, even those inside the temple, had phones with them.

We tried to explain to them in detail that it was a medical device without which she cannot hear and therefore understand or appreciate the experience of visiting the temple. The reply we got was "Dekhna hi toh hai, sun ne ki kya zaroorat hai".

We then asked to speak to the supervising officer and explained the unique situation to her but were met with the absurd response that the hearing device cannot be permitted especially today for "security reasons"

In the end, my daughter was forced to remove her hearing device and I waited outside the temple as my wife and daughter went inside. And so ultimately my daughter had to see God without the benefit of hearing his creation.

I ask you this question:

Would you ask a person with a mechanical wheelchair to leave it behind because it's an "electronic device"?

Would you ask someone with an external pacemaker of the heart to remove it because it's an electronic device and therefore against the rules ?

This incident has reinforced my belief in the fact that as a nation and a society we lack common sense, compassion and are insensitive to the needs of the weak and disabled.

We need to introspect and ensure that in the race to be first, we also carry everyone along !!!