Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) are among the most marginalized sections of society in Pakistan, unheard and unseen, while the efforts on part of successive government towards mainstreaming and integrating them are equally insufficient and inconspicuous. Despite the much trumpeted slogans of transfiguring their fate, the country’s political leadership has miserably failed to address their issues and redress their grievances. Their miseries continue; only in their routine lives they are facing a mountain of challenges, which may remain insurmountable if the society, community and government do not come forward and extend a willing helping hand. Promises have been made in the past to safeguard the rights of the unlucky, but unfortunately these promises have never been kept.
Like other Third World countries, Pakistan has vowed to extend all kinds of moral and material support to safeguard the dignity, wellbeing and rights of the disabled in Pakistan but these remain inadequate, and therefore ineffective. 2.54 percent of the total population comprises vulnerable persons, who are leading a miserable life in the absence of basic necessities of life.
They are deprived of their basic right of education, healthcare, job opportunities, among other things. It is difficult, rather impossible, to get jobs especially in the government sector; the prevalent injustices plaguing the society affect the disabled the most, hence their sense of deprivation grows with every passing day.
The number of the handicapped in the entire region has risen manifold, particularly within the last many years. The ratio in Pakistan is even more than the other regional countries, primarily due to frequent occurrences of natural and manmade disasters like earthquakes, floods, terrorism and extremism. The 8 October 2005 earthquake alone, for example, left thousands of people, including women and children, physically disabled.
In addition, the ongoing war against terrorism in the region has also left behind thousands of such persons. Especially the people of FATA and KP have fallen prey to this menace during this warfare. A large number of children, women and elders have been deprived of their significant body parts like limbs and arms in terror incidents.
The attack on the Army Public School Peshawar, which took place on 16 December 2014 is an eyeopener for those at the helm of affairs. In this barbaric incident, where the many children sacrificed their lives, numerous fell prey to physical disability.
The special people in Pakistan need employment opportunities, educational independence and health facilities. Though the Punjab government has enhanced the job quota from two to three percent, but this should be implemented in true letter and spirit. The federal and other provincial governments should follow. The disabled should not be considered as a burden.
Under the circumstances, the people at the helm of affairs did not bother to formulate any comprehensive strategy to cope with the challenge that has caused despondency of such magnitude. Most of the disabled in Pakistan lack basic facilities of living a better life. According to the latest statistics 1.4 million persons are with disabilities in Pakistan, most of them children without access to schools. Existing facilities are limited in capacity, while quantity and quality add to the dilemma.
Meanwhile the society’s behaviour is generally and regrettably indifferent. People often use derogatory remarks, calling them lula, langra (lame) apahaj, mazoor (cripples). In the absence of fundamental amenities and basic facilities of life, the disabled are often compelled to go for begging at bus stops, shopping malls, business centrEs, outside the mosques and on the roads to earn their bread. Parents forcibly send them begging at picnic points. Another is the business of children’s smuggling; the handlers train them for begging purposes. Most unfortunately many of the poor parents sell their toddlers to the child-lifters. This way they get rid of them, apparently unable to bear their burden. So much so the kidnappers kidnap the completely able children and make them disabled after amputating their limbs or other parts of the body. The darbar of Shah Daula in Gujrat city of central Punjab used to be the hub of such activities. Poor parents who could not afford to feed disabled children, especially with lesser grown skulls, devote them to the darbar. There they are given to the beggars for using them for begging wearing long green rags. Most of the child lifters use to make the kidnapped children wear steel hats in order to stop their head-growth, dubbed them Shahdaula ke Choohay (Shahdaula’s Mice) and launch them for begging.
The government had enacted the Disabled Persons Employment and Rehabilitation Ordinance 1981 for the benefit of the disabled people, which applied to both government and private enterprise. The governments have however failed to implement it in its true letter and spirit, especially denying them the jobs quota. This Ordinance was passed during President Ziaul Haq’s time as his own daughter, Zain Zia, was herself impaired. Pakistan ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on July 5, 2011. Pakistan was among the 145 countries which ratified this Convention and thus its implementation was the responsibility of the state and development organizations including the disabled people’s organizations. Being a signatory of this Convention the state is bound to ensure their rights but the dilemma is that all existing and previous regulations pertaining to giving basic rights to the disabled have not been implemented. In other words these laws only exist on paper.
As far as the nongovernmental organizations’ role in this regard is concerned, a few NGOs are in the country engaged in working for the betterment and welfare of these people. These organizations seem active on world disabled day and merely chant slogans for their rights and then disperse. They look helpless to play their respective role, whether they have financial constraints or they are not sincere enough.
In this respect only a Lahore based organization, LABARD, (Lahore Businessmen Association for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled), seems to be of stature. Its performance has been commendable for reintegration of special persons, but their scope of work is limited. The organization only accommodates local people and those from the near neighborhoods. Keeping in view the miseries’ of special people, the executives of LABARD must consider expanding their network nationwide. Other organizations in the metropolitan cities should follow the steps of LABARD to facilitate the special people.
As for the governmental role, only the Punjab government seems active in this respect. The Punjab CM is taking keen interest in mitigating the sufferings of the disabled across the province. Launching the Himmat card for special people was a praiseworthy step towards the financial rehabilitation of an unsung sng unheard segment of society. Though it’s a beginning which may not cover a massive population of the disabled, the provincial government has already announced plans to include more people in succeeding years. This announcement is quite positive for such people.
Recently Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has also launched the Life Easy Programme to provide essential assistive devices to people with disabilities. According to this imitative “Ease and convenience will be provided to hearing-impaired individuals through hearing aids
The disabled are part of the society and it is a national obligation for all of us to take care of them by mainstreaming them. The Government should be mindful of the troubles confronting the disabled persons in all spheres of life, and initiate positive steps to bring them into the national mainstream. The job quota allocated under Disabled Persons Employment and Rehabilitation Ordinance must be increased by five percent. The government must also introduce accountability laws for organizations to implement the quota.
The special people in Pakistan need employment opportunities, educational independence and health facilities. Though the Punjab government has enhanced the job quota from two to three percent, but this should be implemented in true letter and spirit. The federal and other provincial governments should follow. The disabled should not be considered as a burden.
Antalya ikinci El Eşya
Antalya ikinci El Eşya
Antalya ikinci El Eşya