Dear Sir/Madam:
I am writing these lines as my feedback and a bitter experience that I faced at Heathrow Airport. I and my wife traveled from London to Delhi by Vistara UK 18 aircraft on August 16, 2023 (ET No. 2289653465971 & 2289653465971). Although I am also a mild heart patient, I had booked only one wheelchair for my wife (an arthritic patient) to reduce the burden of wheelchairs on the airport staff. After booking our luggage and taking the boarding passes, a British lady staff was deputed to carry my wife in a wheelchair. She was a decent lady, she asked us what for we had come to England. I told her that my wife is a professor of Urdu language and I am a professor of Plant Sciences. Prof Toby Bruce of Keel University, UK invited me to conduct a collaborative research project to combat specific insects that damage edible crops and cause havoc to crop production. She was very much happy to listen this. She was a graceful lady and she carried us, cleared our security steps, etc. Then we were asked to wait in a big room to carry us to Gate No. 26 for Delhi Flight from Vistara. Then, after one hour, an electric vehicle came to carry us to Gate No. 26. The man (of Indian origin, 45-50 years old) was the driver of the vehicle. He made seated my wife Prof. Sabiha Begum in the vehicle but bluntly refused to carry me, giving a plea that since I had not booked a separate wheelchair, he can’t carry me. I said to him that I was her husband and I am an old person (65 years) and I am not feeling well but he remained adamant saying “Why did you not book a separate wheelchair?”. Although there was a vacant seat in the vehicle, still he in a hateful mood, rejected to give me the ride. Thus, I walked a distance of about one km. My heart palpitations enhanced abnormally, and I was totally exhausted reaching over there.

Sir/Mam, please do the needful against this inhuman staff who expressed his apartheid face to me as I was A Muslim and gave a vile expression of his evil soul. Please convey to him that such incidents will lift the trust of people in humanity. After death, everyone has to face the Day of Judgment which will be very horrible, hard, harsh, and super painful. One will weep blood tears. So he should fear from that day.

Please take the necessary action against this staff as his behaviour will ruin the reputation of Heathrow Airport. I am traveling thru Heathrow since 1987 when I went to Columbus, OH, USA to receive a degree of Ph.D. from there. I never experienced so at Heathrow in my life. I am also attaching my CV for your kind perusal.

Best regards,

Prof. M. Masroor Akhtar Khan, Ph.D., Post-Doc, USA
Department of Botany
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh-202002.
INDIA
Mob: 91-9412878955
Email: masruur@gmail.com