It brings us to a crucial element of the subject. There is so much of
discussion on the air regarding the preparation to face such situations.
However the perspective of physically challenged is completely lacking in
such discussions. Questions such as: What should a physically challenged
person do in the event of he/she being caught in such situation? Why is this
element completely missing particularly in the context of India? etc need to
be prioritized. It also necessitates us to be adequately oriented to such
public spaces so that we will not be lost in the event of such attacks. Last
but not the least, the slow pace of the military action is partially
attributed to the distraction of lights at these hotels. Assuming that it is
true, isn't it an area where our experience can be tapped in to? After all
one needs to realize that brail letters in the beginning were extensively
used at war like situations. So if the administrators have not learnt a
lesson from such historic factors, then it is the high time that we rise to
the occasion to remind them of our potential.
Just my thoughts.
Vetri.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pamnani" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 9:41 PM
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.
To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
the subject unsubscribe.
To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please
visit the list home page at
http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe.
To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please
visit the list home page at
http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
