No Arms To Shield, But With A Heart To Fight

“I too want to study,” says this 90 percent physically challenged boy who braved the summer heat all the way from Kerala to Delhi for the cause of upgrading a school…

- Rajaram Sukumar

It was a sizzling hot day when Careers360 caught up with Muhammed Aasim on the lawns of a roundabout, just opposite the Parliament House in the heart of Delhi. Sitting with both his legs tucked under him on the grassy floor, Aasim looked up and shyly said, “Namaste.” The 13-year-old, born without arms and unable to walk, had travelled all the way from Velimanna in Kerala’s Kozhikode district to plead his case with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the Office of the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). It’s his indomitable spirit to study that made him travel over 3,000 kilometres to press his demand for upgrading Velimanna Government Mappila Upper Primary School (VGMUPS) to a high school. Earlier, raising the slogan, ‘I too want to study’, he had travelled 370 kilometres in his wheelchair from Velimanna to the state capital Thiruvananthapuram in a 55-day journey and sat in protest in front of the old secretariat to highlight his plight. “Aasim had received immense support of the people and vario