Dwelling in a disabled world
By Amar Nath Wadehra & Randeep Wadehra

IT was a series of incidents that led us to write this piece, which depicts, on the one hand, a disabled person’s quest for restoration of his human rights; and on the other hand, it tells the story of a handicapped boy who is not even aware of his rights.

The first incident was when we came across a book titled, Human disabilities — challenges for their rehabilitation. This volume is a collection of thought-provoking articles on various aspects of this human problem. We were interested because it dealt with the lonely, cold and desolate world we were familiar with... the world of the disabled, where one has to grit one’s teeth and put up with indignities which are beyond the able people’s comprehension.

The second incident was a chance roadside meeting with Atul... more about him a bit later. The third incident was a news item in which we read about the government’s hesitation to implement the Act that provides for opportunities to the disabled on a par with their more fortunate fellow citizens. And finally, an encounter with the agency that purports to give free legal aid to those who have no resources to seek legal redress for their grievances, and whose human rights have been infringed upon.

A disabled’s world is a strange world. It is not easy to adjust to a situation when, from being the envy of peers for muscular physique, one becomes a bedridden physical wreck and a promising career is shattered. This is when the dark side of the hitherto rose-tinted society manifests itself. Friendships melt away, relations break down, and darkness envelops all horizons. A mixture of bewilderment, anger, self-pity and a sense of being abandoned overwhelms the consciousness.

Interestingly, Article 41 of the Constitution enjoins on the State to "make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement and other cases of undeserved want." But what about those who are cast aside when they become disabled while in service? Some are fortunate enough to get institutional support but there is a large number of physically and mentally challenged people who are left to fend for themselves.

This is where Atul comes in. He was born with a defect in his spine... reason enough for his father — a military personnel — to desert Atul’s mother and remarry. Atul is an adult now. When we met him on the road we asked him whether he was educated. No, he was not. His mother Vedvati informs us that Atul’s comprehension powers are limited. Today, she is managing somehow but fears for her son’s plight ‘after me’. "Bhagwan ka hi sahara hai!," she says with resignation. She is unaware of any agency that can help rehabilitate her son. Her limited resources are just not enough for the purpose. We are giving here Atul’s phone number so that if there really is an institution that helps such people it should be able to reach him. He needs rehabilitation and not crumbs of pity thrown at him. His phone number is 0172-567389.

The 19th session of the UN General Assembly, held in 1975, declared," ... disabled persons have the inherent right to respect their human dignity... they have the right to economic and social security and to a decent level of living to secure and retain employment or to engage in a useful productive and remunerative occupation and to join all trade unions." This so-called inherent right has just not been conceded to Bharat Mata’s less fortunate children.

Dr M.N. Karna, a contributor to the aforementioned book, avers, "... a handicapped person is an individual with full human rights, entitled to receive from his society every possible measure of protection, assistance and opportunity for rehabilitation. They are not creatures of pity who survive merely on charity or mercy of the rest of the community. A realisation has to be there that without taking pity on them, empathy and fellow feeling should prevail for making schemes of their rehabilitation effective and successful."

And what are these schemes for their rehabilitation? A typing course? Making cane chairs?... What is the scope for employing such ‘trained workers’? Who is being rehabilitated? Those who are employed to implement these schemes, or those who should actually benefit from these? Does anyone care?

Don’t preach, friends caution. But we live in a community of the deaf. Unless one shouts, exhibits one’s raw wounds, one is unable to attract attention of those who are at the helm of the polity. Didacticism puts off the potential helper, assert well-wishers. But one doesn’t want an individual’s help. One wants to retain dignity by earning one’s living. Let a dignified lifestyle be institutionally ensured. But this doesn’t happen. One sends one’s resume for a job without mentioning the disability. The interview call comes promptly. When one reveals one’s disability, a stunning silence follows. No, the potential employer is not embarrassed. He just does not like being ‘taken for a ride’ by a pingla! For a job requiring mental or intellectual work, all that one needs in this IT age is access to a connected computer. This should not be difficult for an institution to provide. This line of argument leaves the selecting authority cold. Is orthopaedic disability a synonym for mental disability?

So, in order to seek support, one turns to this agency that claims to help those incapable of helping themselves. The dialogue over the phone goes like this,

"Hello?" a female voice answers the ring

"Is this the Free Legal Advice Agency?"

"Yes, what do you want?"

"I want help..."

"Why don’t you come here?"

"Your office is on the fourth floor..."

"So?"

"I’m physically handicapped and cannot reach your office."

"Send somebody who can climb the stairs."

"But no one else can explain my case better..."

"Sorry you will have to file an application personally to the judge sahib..."

"But, but..."

Click!

The phone goes dead. One cannot blame any one person for this thoughtlessness, for our collective social conscience is almost dead. You can get an inkling of this in everyday life. Whether it is the market building, a government office or hospital, it becomes an impossible task for a handicapped person to enter it.Roads are blocked with building material and vehicles, potholes overflow with filth and water... adding to the misery of the distressed. Perhaps this lament is futile in a society that howls at the very mention of cow-slaughter, but doesn’t mind the sacred bovine choking on mounds of filth and inedible garbage.

Resources earmarked for the various benefit schemes for the disabled by the government are inadequate.Therefore, the very definition of disability has been narrowed down! During International Year of the Disabled Persons in 1981, a national sample survey was conducted to ascertain the extent of disability. While it covered visual, communication and locomotion disabilities, it specifically excluded mental disability from its purview! Truly our polity is disabled in every sense of the term.

Resources are never in short supply when limos are bought for the ruling elite, when golf courses are constructed, when luxuries and foreign junkets are sanctioned out of public funds. The Charter of United Nations affirms, "... faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human persons, in the equal rights of men and women and nations large and small". But when a nation callously ignores its own citizens, the pious sentiments seem farcical.

One might detect a lot of anger and pain in this piece that is virtually a harangue! But if this litany succeeds in igniting angst, concern and positive action in the right quarters, then one might feel a bit satisfied. Sometimes one feels impelled to resort to the none-too-dignified manner of protest to redeem one’s self-respect. To be at the receiving end of social apathy is a nasty experience. Believe us.