On Tuesday, the International Day of Disabled Persons was celebrated all over the world, but it is a matter of great regret that the nearly 35 million disabled people living here, who are called special persons but are not understood at all, are treated with hatred and pain by the government, society, institutions and their own people.

The day was marked by various seminars and programmes including sports events to highlight the plight of disabled persons in Pakistan and focused on devising ways and means to bring them into mainstream society to make them stand on their own feet by exploring their talents. The day's seminars and symposiums for special persons called for creating awareness and guaranteeing the rights of 'special persons' at every level in all spheres of life so that their abilities can be utilized and they can be made useful  members of the society.  

Discrimination and cruel treatment of disabled people starts from their homes and goes through the society to the government level. Despite the passage of 77 years in Pakistan, disabled people are considered a burden on society, their status is nothing more than a beggar, which is why their future looks very bleak, disabled people are seen begging on the streets and intersections.  No one becomes disabled by choice, but disability is their destiny, whether by birth or due to an accident. In our society, disabled people are looked down upon. This is exactly the attitude that is seen everywhere in our society.  No government or non-government institution seems ready to create any facility or convenience for them. There are no basic facilities for the disabled anywhere in the entire country.  There are no wheelchair-accessible paths in any office, institution, government or private building. There is no arrangement to transport wheelchair users in small and large shopping centers, plazas, hotels and restaurants. Be it railways or private buses, wagons, there is no wheelchair access anywhere. Even the modern metro bus Orange Line train has not been given access to the disabled.  There is no such cultural center, park, recreation center, cinema, theater or any other place where disabled people can easily go in their wheelchairs. The condition of the disabled in this country is not good.  

When will these basic and necessary facilities be provided and who will provide these basic facilities, we do not even know who is responsible for it and to whom is accountable.  Recently, some facilities have been provided by the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab but at the federal level, no attention is being paid to them.  It may be recalled here that former Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah's govt in recent years really focused on the issues of special persons in recent years which can be gauged from the fact that when the PPP provincial govt came into power in Sindh during previous tenyre, there was a department of special education with some schools where enrolment was very low. But credit goes to the former CM Murad to have created a full-fledged department of empowerment of persons with disabilities with  as many as 60 centres. The  CM Murad Ali Shah during the PPP's previous tenure had also pledged to fully implementing the five per cent  quote of  jobs for special persons in the government departments and further strengthening the newly-formed rehabilitation centre in Sujawal. After the 18th Amendment, the powers regarding legislation for PWDs have been lying with the provinces.  But so far, only Sindh and Baluchistan provinces have legislated to protect and empower the special persons while Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces are yet to enact laws for protection of PWDs. It is also welcome that the Sindh govt is using technology to bring the differently-abled persons into mainstream society. For instance, it has formally launched an app titled ConnectHear, which will help the persons with hearing disabilities to communicate with ease.

 The special persons have shown interest in using this app which can be gauged from the fact that currently 3,000 persons are using the app. As a matter of fact, the disabled persons  are differently abled which can be seen from example of the achievements of our special persons in various fields of life including sports. The blind cricket team, wheel chair cricket and our special athletes’ successful participation in Paralympics  and special Olympics in Berlin earlier this year are the cases in point where our special athletes have excelled. What is needed is to explore their talent for which the change in mindset of the society is needed. The irony is that instead of helping them out, our society stigmatize the 'special persons' and look down upon them. The general mindset is to look down and make laugh of the special persons and their disabilities which is a matter of real concern.  Instead of stigmatizing the differently-abled persons the Federal govt needs to focus on mainstreaming them and implementing the laws regarding their rights. The real change will become effective with the change in mindset of the society which till now is stigmatising the disabilities of the special persons. In fact, when any person suffers from any kind of disability or is born disabled, it is the responsibility of the government to create resources for him and rehabilitate him so that he does not need anyone.  The governments have the resources. If work is being done in other sectors within the same resources, then can nothing be done for the disabled? There should be big rehabilitation centers in the whole of Pakistan where the disabled can be completely rehabilitated and then they can be taught various skills here and provided with employment and made respectable citizens of the society.

What has been done to support or motivate the disabled in 77 years? Not only at the collective level, but also at the individual level, disabled people who are struggling to make their lives successful and improve the lives of others are not encouraged.  Despite being disabled, some personalities are accomplishing such feats that they are amazing examples not only for the disabled but also for normal people. Everyone gets a lesson from their life struggle to move forward with courage, motivation and dignity, but here, instead of encouraging them, they are discouraged.  The Federal government should create facilities for them at the collective level and take the first step towards making Pakistan a welfare state by providing dignity and respectable employment to the disabled. If prosperity and facilities come to the lives of these miserable people of the society, it will have a pleasant impact on the entire country and blessings and blessings will come to the entire country.