RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE EVE OF THE WORLD DISABILITY DAY - 2008

Hi there,

I am sitting at the desk allotted to me at the NCPEDP office working away for the big campaign tomorrow. It's a chilly winter night here in Delhi and I am looking forward to the warmth of my little cot and desperate to snuggle under the blanket. But before I go I had to share this with you. This is a piece that was written by Javed Abidi, friend and an undisputed leader of the disability sector that is my 'karm bhoomi'. I stop here else I can go on and on.....


RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE EVE OF THE WORLD DISABILITY DAY 2008

Preparing for this World Disability Day has not been easy.

A grave terror attack hit our Nation on 26th November. We have become so immune to bomb blasts that earlier in the evening as news trickled in, I didn't pay much attention. I switched off the TV, had late dinner and concentrated on work. It was only very late in the night, at about 2 or 3 a.m. that I switched on the TV and was quite awestruck because by that time, almost a full battle was on at The Taj in Mumbai. I could not believe my eyes and kept switching from one channel to the other. And as I surfed, the enormity and the vastness of the tragedy unfolded. I remained glued to the TV till almost 6 or 7 a.m. Finally, I had to go to sleep, only to wake up some hours later but the picture on the telly had still not changed. And then, it went on and on and on…

How does one divorce oneself from such real grief. Well, you can switch off the television but how do you switch off your own mind, your heart, your soul? It could be me. I could have been there or one of my loved ones. I and my family have absolute fond memories of Bombay, now forcibly called Mumbai. My sister got her education there and worked there for many years. My brother's sasural is there. And I have visited the city a zillion times.

I could never afford staying at The Taj but always made it a point to visit its Coffee Shop overlooking the sea and the magnificent Gateway of India. At the Trident, I have stayed many a times. One of the things that most of you wouldn't know is that it has one of the most disabled-friendly toilet anywhere in the world! Also, the largest. The room was so-so-so accessible that leaving the routine features aside, you could even draw or open the curtains by merely pressing a few buttons on a remote control, sitting in your bed. While it may seem funny or odd to some of you, ask me as a paraplegic as to what a delight such little facilities are. I truly wish all our hoteliers and developers were as humane as the Oberois are.

The Sea Attack in Mumbai has finally ended. The burst of the AK 47s has given way to a loud chatter. Switch on any television screen and people are speaking loudly. Generally, people are angry, upset and above all, helpless. Can we change the system? Is it possible for us to change the system?

Some basic questions continue to haunt:

* How come we were caught so off guard? Especially, with all the intelligence inputs available much in advance.
* Why did it take NSG 9 hours to get there?
* Why did it take 67 hours for NSG, Army and Navy, not to mention Mumbai's police force combined to kill a mere 9 terrorists?
* Were there many more? How come they escaped and where did they escape to?

While one was/ is coming to grips with the tragedy of almost 200 people dead and hundreds injured, came two more shockers: (1) The Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, RR Patil said, "Such small incidents do happen in big cities". (2) The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh visited The Taj to inspect its scarred remains and decided to bring his son along, who is a mere second rate film actor, called Ritesh Deshmukh. The son, in turn, decided to bring along his friend, a third rate film maker by the name Ram Gopal Verma. What saved India from committing mass suicide, woh bhi chullu bhar pani mein, is the fact that Ram Gopal Verma did not take Urmila Matondkar along or whosoever his latest 'muse' is!

Horrible. The Nation has a lot to introspect.

I feel good when I see people angry. Anger is the catalyst that leads to change. If you are not angry, then you are content and that contentment invariably leads to status quo, even lethargy.

We the disabled people of India were angry too. Angry at being neglected. Angry because this Nation still does not treat us as equal citizens. Angry because inspite of all the lip service, only Sminu Jindal can "inaugurate" the fourth or fifth edition of the ramp at Qutab Minar; and Sanjeev Sachdeva/ Anjalee Agarrwal can endorse Delhi Metro to be disabled friendly when a significant number of its stations are completely inaccessible. Angry because basic education is out of reach for 98% of disabled children. Angry because inspite of all the noise made by UGC and the promises made by our HRD Minister, not one of our 300+ Universities are accessible to a wheelchair user like me. Angry because a Nation that produces the world's best bicycles, has till date not been able to manufacture a half decent wheelchair. Angry because our deaf still do not have access to basic sign language facilities. Angry because our blind cannot access 99% of the Indian websites; while everyone is racing away on the so-called Information Highway, they can't access even NASSCOM's Website. Angry because employers still discriminate, because CII has got a Corporate Code which it does not enforce, and because FICCI doesn't even pretend to do that much. Angry because the Finance Minister's scheme which was supposed to create 100,000 jobs for disabled people in one year, has not yielded even a single job with over 6 months having gone by.

Over a year ago, we had to undergo tremendous hardship to be able to get a Chapter of our choice (on disability rights) in the XIth Five Year Plan. It was the dharna outside the Planning Commission, where we almost got beaten up by the Delhi Police, that forced their eyes open. Montek Singh Ahluwalia called us in, admitted his guilt in so many words and promised the moon. Within six months of the approval of the XIth Plan, all the relevant Ministries will chalk out their respective schemes/ policies vis a vis disability issues. Each Ministry would allocate 3% of its budget towards disability schemes. The Disability Division in the Ministry of Social Justice would be upgraded to a full fledged Department. We of course were/ are demanding a Ministry. The dream Ministry. The Ministry of Disability Affairs.

That was one year ago.

Till now, NOTHING has been done.

No wonder then that we were/ are angry. About a month ago, we decided that we will not celebrate World Disability Day this year. Instead, we would agitate. Hold a Night Vigil. An all night vigil, which if need be will continue forever. The idea was/ is to force the attention of the Nation and its Prime Minister towards our cause, our dreams, our aspirations. Because, otherwise, the World Disability Day is meaningless.

However, now we are caught in an awkward situation. World Disability Day is less than 24 hours away but the Nation is faced with a serious situation. A very serious situation.

And at a time like this, would it be appropriate on our part to launch an agitation? Would we not be taking away the Prime Minister's attention away from an issue (fighting terror) which is far more important?

We cannot cancel the vigil either. Thousands of disabled people are already on their way to Delhi. It was/ is practically impossible to inform them. Therefore, I am proposing that we convert this Night Vigil into a SOLIDARITY VIGIL. Let us, all of us, all the 10,000+ of us, express first of all our condolences to the families of those who have died. Let us then express our solidarity with the Nation and all those who protect us. Let us pray that the politician becomes a better human being. Let us remind them that it is we, the ordinary men and women of this country, who bring them to power. And we bring them to power to serve us, not to serve themselves and their political affiliations.

We the 70 million disabled people of India are Indians first and Indians last. We just want to be equal partners, to be able to work, to be self-reliant, to be able to serve our great Nation, to be able to contribute to its economy, to be tax payers and not be a burden on society.

With best regards,

Javed Abidi

Convenor

Disabled Rights Group (DRG)

2.12.2008

NOTE: ON 3RD DECEMBER, OVER 10,000 DISABLED PEOPLE WILL ASSEMBLE AT INDIA GATE, FOR A SOLIDARITY VIGIL FROM 3:00 P.M. TO 6:00 P.M.

AT ABOUT 5:30 P.M., THOUSANDS OF CANDLES WILL LIGHT UP OUR HEARTS, OUR SOULS AND OUR MINDS AS WE PRAY FOR THOSE WHO DIED AND THOSE WHO GOT INJURED IN THE MUMBAI SEA ATTACK.