December 1st is observed around the world as AIDS Day and the occasion is largely publicized.
Unlike the attention World AIDS Day receives, World Disability Day barely registers on the world
media’s radar.
Circle of friends by Flickr
user Jimee, Jackie, Tom and Asha and used
under a creative commons
license
Celebrated every year on December 3rd, World Disability Day honors the contribution made to our
world by those with physical and mental handicap. In case of South Asia, there is severe stigma
attached any kind of physical and mental handicap. World Disability Day is an opportunity to
spread awareness about the rights of the handicapped and that being differently able is not a sin
or something to be ashamed of.
In India, activist Javed Abidi, the country’s leading
advocate for the rights of the handicapped, will lead an event called “Dilli Chalo”
or “Lets go to Delhi” to mark the occasion. It will be held at the historic India
Gate.
Mr. Abidi says that India has made some progress in securing rights of the disabled but
more needs to be done.
“Now, in India, as we are aware, we have had the Disability Act for the last 12 years. Last
year we thought was a momentous year for two reasons. One was that our country ratified the UN
Convention, and the second was that we also got the XI Plan. And in the XI Plan.....for the first
time, there is a distinct chapter or a section on disability. And we thought that things were
going to change. ......if we were look at the last one year, we find that things have not really
moved the way we had expected them to move....”
Along with addressing legal issues related to the rights of the disabled and the opportunities
they deserve, efforts are also needed to help those living in abject poverty because of their
physical condition.
A news report published by the The National shows
how urgently India’s poor disabled citizens need their government to take steps to insure
that they are able to live in dignity.
Shaikh Azizur Rahman reported this November that an elderly father taking care of two
severely disabled bed ridden daughters has asked the Indian President that they be allowed to be
euthanized. He said that he is too poor to take of his daughters who need round the clock care
and attention. Fatema, one of his daughters, says that she too wants her life to end.
“I told my father many times to bring poison for me. Nobody is helping me to kill
myself.”
Across the border in Pakistan, there is still the mountain of odds facing citizens with
disability. Writing for Dawn, Zahid
Abdullah, who works for the Center for Peace and Development in Islamabad, says that country
still has a long way to go before those with different ability can feel that society values them
too. He also expresses frustration at slow pace of legal reform regarding the rights of the
disabled.
Like in India and Pakistan, the society in Nepal too views physical and mental handicaps as a
result of past life’s sins. Handicapped are usually treated as sub human; they have very
limited access to education and meaningful employment. Often you can see a person with physical
disability begging on the streets to sustain life.
Meen Raj Panthi says that
families hide those with a disability to protect their honor and prestige:
“The notion that people with disabilities have equal rights and duty as any other
individual, is largely absent from the popular mindset.”
Children are most vulnerable to discrimination. National Disabled and Helpless
Upliftment Association in Nepal cites an example of a little girl named Manisha held captive
by her parents because she is blind:
“While her parents work at fields, she is often locked in her own room and tethered with
rope by her parents because she has no one to look after her at home. But her elder brother and
sister go to school.”
Thumbnail image by Flickr user
Shizhao and used under a creative commons license
Recommandations
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and reject those that you are not interested in
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