Empathy is okay but change of mindset need of the hour: Humayun Qaiser
Farooq Shah
SRINAGAR: “People living with disabilities –thanks to the apathy of a normal person –continue to wear the stigma of incapacity and shame even as we’re braving the odds more forcefully than before,” Sameer Wani, a teacher, who is blind in his both eyes, rued at a function organized by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) on the eve of World Disability Day here on Friday.
World Disability
Day, known formally as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, or
simply Disability Day is observed every December 3 worldwide. The United
Nations created the observance in 1992 to promote further compassion and
understanding of people with disabilities of all types.
“We can’t and should not latch onto the
age-old beliefs and myths about disability,” Wani said. “We need family, a
society that understands us more than a community to be pitied upon.”
To mark the event, the Inclusive and Special Education Wing of the SCERT organized a singing and painting competition among the disabled children who, along with their parents, mentors and escort teachers, had assembled in the conference hall of the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) Srinagar.
Earlier, Riyaz
Ahmad Baig, JKAS, who is the additional mission director of Jammu and Kashmir
Rural Livelihoods Mission, said the absence of infrastructure for the disabled
has impeded their normal course to success.
“The 3% government
reservation for the disabled people won’t actually help as long as the mindset
of normal people changes,” Baig said.
In 1982, Beigh
lost both of his arms in a freak accident when he touched a high-tension wire
near a transformer while playing football. He was barely four then. However, it
did not deter him from pursuing his dreams and he went on to qualify the
Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) in the open merit category in 2004. Known
for his meticulous writing, Beigh writes with his toes and lips.
“Education is the only way forward and the
only ray of hope for the disabled children,” Beigh remarked. He joined the event
via Zoom.
Director SCERT,
Prof Veena Pandita, who also joined the program via Zoom from her Jammu office,
said the main objective of observing this Day is to promote an understanding of
disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being
of persons with disabilities.
“In today’s modern era, inclusion and
encouragement of people with disability in the routine functioning of our lives
is essential for the development of a common accessible and sustainable
future,” Prof Pandita said. “It becomes imperative to include everyone in the
growth process for a better and sustainable growth of our nation.”
Visually impaired
Abrar Ahmad Bhat, who was accompanied by his wife Sheikh Naghma, stressed on
the importance of family support for the disabled people.
“Family support helps people to sustain their
lives at home and in the community,” Bhat, who works at a bank, said. “My
success story is a testimony that it is the family that can bring about a
qualitative change in the life of a disabled person.”
He urged the
government to let the disabled people use more and more technology to
facilitate their movements and aid in other forms of disability.
“While there are some 60 to 70 different
languages that ‘OK Google’ supports, we have sought the inclusion of Kashmiri
language in the voice assistant,” Bhat said. “Because Braille cannot take us
beyond the first university degree, it’s important that we embrace the
technology more and more.”
While appreciating
SCERT’s idea of holding a painting and singing competition among the disabled
children, Ex Director All India Radio, Srinagar, Syed Humayun Qaisar, said it’s
important to give a vent to the pent up emotions and creativity of any child
more so of a disabled one.
“Painting or singing or any hobby for that
matter provides some sort of an outlet for a person to explore his innate and
untapped qualities,” Qaiser said. “Nature compensates one form of disability
with something extraordinary and if that is located and nurtured at an early
age, nothing can stop a person with whatever little or big disability from
realizing his dreams.”
The need of the hour, Qaiser said, is to avoid the word ‘disability’ from being repeated too often.
No comments:
Post a Comment