Parties urged to include specially-abled in manifestos

Speakers urged to bring them into mainstream by doing more than just jobs quota

ISLAMABAD: Though they may make up a small percentage of the overall population, the participation of specially-abled people in different spheres of life will significantly increase if they are included in the national mainstream. But for this, it was imperative that political parties find the will to formulate an all-inclusive law, dealing with their welfare.

These suggestions came at the launch of a report of “Bringing Disability in the Constitutional Net”, by the Potohar Mental Health Association (PMHA), an organisation working for the well-being of specially-abled people.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Farhatullah Babar said that one way in which the specially-abled people can be truly be given equal rights is through “mainstreaming” them.

He explained that his means taking adequate measures to accommodate them in various aspects of society and including them in the decision-making process.

Babar said that the goal of making them equal citizens of the country is typically overlooked due to exclusionary practices.

Sharing examples from his own time as a senator, Babar said that other marginalised groups such as tribal area residents and transgenders were brought in the mainstream by parties and parliament taking proper political and constitutional steps.

Exclusion of specially-abled people can also be overcome, he said as he called for passing a comprehensive law that covers welfare of the specially-abled people.

“The existing law is outdated and deals only with employment of specially-abled people,” he said.

Terming political will as a decisive factor, Babar disclosed that his party will be attempting to address this area in its manifesto, which is set to be unveiled soon.

He also called upon other parties to take similar steps.

Earlier, PMHA President Zulqurnain Asghar stated that the absence of any law means the absence of any binding document to ensure that all rights of the specially-abled people are upheld, and those violating these rights are held accountable.

He also wondered why the 2017 census had shown a decline in the number of specially-abled people in the national population, while the population of the country, in general, has increased.

Baitul Maal Assistant Director-Legal Noreen Khan touched upon the barriers created by society towards specially-abled people.

The mindset of people, she implored, needs to change.

Similarly, Babar too called for empathy in reaching out to specially-abled people.

“The able-bodied,” he said, “should realise that physical disability can strike anyone, at any time with any intensity.”

“If this is understood, we can have a more empathetic society”

Amjad Nazeer and Maliha Hussain, working with different nongovernment organisations, highlighted the need for taking special measures to ensure that the vote of a specially-abled person is registered without any hassle and that they are provided with infrastructure facilities at the polling stations.

Meanwhile, Oxfam Gender Justice Programme Manager Hadia Nusrat stated that specially-abled people face numerous challenges and meaningful participation in the democratic process is the only way they can voice their concerns and ensure the safeguarding of their rights.

She also appreciated the role of a special cell in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which is taking care of specially-abled people, and hoped that more efforts of this sort will generate more awareness.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2018.