a very good and self-explanatory article. thanks.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pamnani" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 8:11 AM
Subject: [AI] Fw: RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE EVE OF THE WORLD DISABILITY DAY 2008
----- Original Message -----
From: muthamma devaya
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 11:25 PM
Subject: RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE EVE OF THE WORLD DISABILITY DAY 2008
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:
a.. How come we were caught so off guard? Especially, with all the
intelligence inputs available much in advance.
b.. Why did it take NSG 9 hours to get there?
c.. 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?
d.. 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.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL MS. MUTHAMMA DEVAYA OR MS. HELEN MAHTANI AT
26265647, 26265648 OR 26265739. I CAN BE CONTACTED AT 98-110-38018.
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