Hyderabad: When Hyderabadi Akhila Pemmasani moved to Russia to work as an intern in March 2015, she had no clue that she would be taking on a bigger cause.
Currently, an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher in a local private school in Chernogorsk, Akhila’s life got a new mission on May 3 when she got a rejection letter, in response to her job application, from yet another Russian school solely because of her nationality.
The 26-year-old was in for a rude shock when her application for the a teacher-in-training post at “a globally present language school with an office in St. Petersburg” was rejected with the following explanation: “Unfortunately, our teachers, teacher-interns, work-studies and volunteers are mandated by the Russian authorities as needing to be one of the following nationalities by birth: British, American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander or South African.”
Repulsed by the blatant discrimination, Akhila has written to the UN Human Rights Council. In an email to the UN, she writes, “I do not know what is racism if this isn’t (sic).”
A FIGHT FOR EVERYONE
While awaiting guidance from the UN on how to fight this “injustice”, she tells this newspaper, “I wouldn’t say that my fight is only for Indians. My fight is for every individual, from any part of the world, who has been unjustly discriminated against. Too many people have taken this world and all its unfair treatments for granted. Too many people have ignored their rights and dreams, and too many of them do not have the resources to fight the system. This fight is important to everyone around the world, because I know for a fact that naturally-born citizens of certain countries have extra privileges, such as priority employment and hassle-free travel procedures. Their professional requirements are also sometimes lesser than their counterparts from other countries.”
Right now, Akhila is also working on an online petition to garner support from individuals across the globe. “My efforts are focused on reaching out to aware individuals and garner their support in my fight against discrimination based on nationality or racial, demographic and historical backgrounds, exclusively when it comes to candidate selection from a pool of aspirants with qualifications of equal or comparable value,” says Akhila who is a BSc genetics, microbiology and chemistry graduate from Bhavan’s College.
TALENT Vs NATIONALITY?
Akhila insists that she has the talent to be employed in the role she has applied for. Besides being the best at it, she has bigger plans with her passion for language.
“I’m passionate about languages and I want to spread the same passion to my students… not just for English, but for a unifying language that enables people from all over the globe to easily communicate with each other,” she says, adding “English being the logical choice as it has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions and in professional contexts such as science.”
NOT LOBBYING
However, she is aware of the risk of being misunderstood, and is quick to dismiss any possibility of her being portrayed as someone lobbying for easier visa procedures or reservations.
“A lot of people would try to misuse my positive cause and twist it into their gnarled versions of power and control. What I would like to do instead is to ensure that honest and sincere people get evaluated justly, and are allowed to follow their dreams with equal treatment as other deserving candidates from anywhere in the world,” she says. A resident of Yapral, Akhila’s visa expires in June 2015. The city girl says that she is not interested in flouting the law and “shall return to India before my visa expires.”
EQUALITY IN FUTURE
Among other things, she also plans a social campaign to publicise this cause. “People need to realise that the time to accept the rules, which have been unjustly passed, is over, and things should not be taken for granted if we want our future generations to have an environment that is nurturing, united, equal and just.”
