Disability -The Indian Scenario
On 19th February of this year a scandalous incident took place in Kolkata involving a woman with disability which brings into bold relief our general attitudes towards disability and the unfortunate victims of it. India's record in protection of rights of some of the vulnerable sections of our society is bad enough and this particular shameful episode is just going to reinforce this image at the international levels. What exactly happened on that fateful day for Ms. Jeeja Ghosh - a disability activist and a victim herself A victim of cerebral palsy this indomitable and intrepid woman fought her way to do double M.A with one in disability studies from a foreign university! She was on her way to attend an international conference to be held at Goa. Being one of the 15 representatives of the country to attend it. For Jeeja Ghosh life is full of challenges and she may have succeeded in winning the challenge posed by her body but she must have felt utterly helpless against an unfeeling,discriminatory and grossly unjust order of a society for people with disability.
When she arrived at the Calcutta airport to board a Goa-bound Spice-Jet plane she might not imagined in her wildest dreams of what was in store for her. A courageous woman that she is, preferred to travel alone as she has been used to while traveling in flights of shorter duration for domestic destinations. She was allowed entry into the plane but the pilot of the plane spotted her traveling alone and she was most unceremoniously forced off the plane by the airliner's staff. When the news broke about this shocking incident, the airline came back with a tame apology with willingness to fly her she was too traumatized being swept off her feet by this disgraceful incident. One has to pause and ponder here on the very thought that if a woman of substance who by the quirk of fate , suffered a disability and admirably on a mission to ensure a better lot for her fellow brethern and sisters, could be meted out such a thorough degrading and ignominious treatment what is th current state of affairs for ordinary disabled people of this country. It does not speak well of a society which subjects a significant section of its population who are the unfortunate victims of disability of one kind or another to a life of indignity, insults and abuses.devoid of meanings
At a personal level I had a shocking experience of visiting the wedding ceremony of a distant relative some decades back. Being very young and impressionable, I used to be emotional at times. What I heard before about this family that it had a girl who was a victim of polio. And it was the wedding of her younger sister which we were attending. In the gay and joyous atmosphere, everybody was enjoying the way he or she could. My eyes suddenly fell on the shadows of a human figure emerging from a partly open door hangings. When I tried to raise my eyes at her, she hesitated and vanished into the room once again. What I could make out from my fleeting glance was the sad face with a shy smile of her very own in a dress completely out of sync with a house going merry on a wedding occasion. From that point, I withdrew myself mentally from my joyous environment and was just thinking of her lot. Life could be so cruel - her parents would not her allow her to come out and celebrate her sister's marriage. Years after I heard she died - may be much to the relief of herself and the world!
With this bleak scenario for the disabled people, the government and the institutional framework that we currently have seem to be almost dysfunctional. This country practices discrimination of all kinds, be these language,caste,creed, creed,gender etc. But one which is practiced in relation to people who are born or otherwise disabled is cruel,inhumane and worse. we make a mockery of our constitutional provisions in our practices against this section of people. Where are social justice, moral ethics and all the international conventions in dealing with this most burning problems of India. Some of them are endowed with rich talents who face barriers in all form. Discrimination in schools, colleges, communities - the whole world seems to be ranged against them. Absence of even basic facilities of transport- all go to make their life a veritable hell!
We observe International Disabled Day and our government is committed to work for the upliftment of this section of our people through signing international declarations and charters. But what have they got? Years roll by, tall promises are consciously made to be broken. of value systems. Let us not forget that it is the general attitude of the government which shapes up that of society. Ms Jeeja Ghosh's case in not unique in the sense that scores of such cases have been taking place in an hourly basis in this country and nobody cares to highlight them. When she was frantically trying to convince the stubborn pilot of the airliner that there was nothing wrong in her traveling alone as she did several times earlier, not a single co-passenger came to her side when humiliation was being heaped on her! They are the targets because people get away more easily violating their rights! Our apathy only reflects greater apathy of the government to discharge its duties towards our disabled citizens. By making mere laws in legislatures the average lot of disabled persons can never be improved. We need effective enforcement and greater social awareness in this regard. We must shed this mentality of treating disability as a personal problem. It is more of a societal problem and has to be tackled accordingly. But the response of the government to this dark episode of gross infringement of her human rights has been very disappointing to say the least. A government whose Prime Minister parrots every now and then on the virtues of 'inclusive growth' is deafeningly silent on this issue. What kind of inclusive growth he is talking about!
Compare this scenario with that prevailing in some Western countries. There are facilities available which can not even be imagined by their counterparts in India. Their general attitudes towards this vulnerable group is one of help and encouragement. They are even termed as differently-abled people to highlight that having disability is no fault of their own rather the focus is on their ability. When are we going to imbibe this culture from them?
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