White Cane Day: For blind people, living normally is a right

Walk organised to spread awareness about the rights of the visually-impaired.

ISLAMABAD:

On Monday morning, the residents of F-6 and shopkeepers in Super Market were met with a pleasant surprise. Young students stood in line holding green and white balloons, while several blind persons stood nearby with a smartly dressed police band performing. The inquisitive ones asked what was being celebrated, only to be given the less than satisfactory answer – White Cane Day.

In 1964, the United States Congress passed a resolution to annually mark the day on October 15. This was after the first of the state laws regarding the right of blind people to travel independently with the white cane was passed in 1930, which granted blind pedestrians protection and the right-of-way.

The day is duly observed in Pakistan each year with a lot of zest, but despite numerous laws to assist the visually-impaired, actual implementation and public awareness remains low.

“This is the first time I am hearing about a White Cane Day. I only found out after the organisers announced it on a megaphone,” said Fahad, who had come out of a nearby bank branch to witness the walk.

Creating awareness among people about the issues of the visually impaired was indeed a major aim of the event.

Nasim Ahmad, a representative of the Pakistan Qaumi Yakjehti Council (Pakistan national solidarity council) that had organised the event, said that people have “serious misconceptions” about the rights of the blind people to be out on the streets. “We consider it a favour [to let them live normal lives] but what we don’t understand is that it is their right.”

The government, he added, only holds indoor functions where information does not reach the people. “This walk will [help] educate people on how to give the visually-impaired people the right-of-way,” he added.

Islamabad Police Operations Deputy Inspector General Sultan Azam Temuri, the chief guest, gave a short speech on the importance of empathy for the visually-impaired and their contribution to society, before distributing white canes among a group of blind people. Mohammad, one of the recipients, said, “I’m a double MA and self-employed. Sometimes people are very surprised when they realise I’m blind, but being blind does not make us unique, we just learn to do things a little differently.”

The participants then walked to the nearby National Press Club. The traffic police aided each blind person cross the road, demonstrating how to respect their right of way. The school students behind them released green and white balloons in the air.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2012.