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Hi

I would like to draw list members attention to the following message and
statement concerning the struggles of disability activists in India. Javed
Abidi has recently begun a personal hunger strike to draw a government
response to demands placed by the Disabled Rights Group. Messages of support
or lobbying on these issues would I believe be much appreciated. The full
text of Javed's message, the statement and the DRG's demands are inlcuded
below for information.

Best Wishes

Mark.


> From: "Javed Abidi" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: URGENT: FROM JAVED ABIDI
> Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2002 21:42:21 +0530
>
> YOUR URGENT ATTENTION PLEASE
>
>
> Dear friends,
>
> As you are aware, Disabled Rights Group (DRG) had
> placed 13 demands before the Government of India on
> 7th February. We had asked the Government to act on
> them within a timeframe of 3 months. These 3 months
> are coming to an end on 7th May. There is no
> evidence whatsoever that the Government has
> considered, leave alone conceded, any one of these
> 13 demands. I guess they are right when they say
> that 13 is an unlucky number!
>
> In purely my personal capacity, I have decided to
> sit on an Indefinite Hunger Strike, from 7th May. I
> have taken this decision after a lot of thought &
> deliberation. My formal statement is placed below
> for your perusal. I request your understanding and
> best support.
>
> I obviously do not expect you to sit with me on the
> Hunger Strike. But, I hope to get your solidarity.
> How you express it is entirely your decision. I
> request you to please consider the following
> options:
>
> 1. Send telegrams, faxes, letters to the Prime
> Minister to consider our 13 demands with the
> seriousness that they deserve.
>
> 2. Organise a Press Conference in your city (esp.
> those of you in State Capitals) and build media
> support. If you can't organise a Press Conference,
> then consider the possibility of sending out a Press
> Release and talk to individual press reporters, who
> are known to you.
>
> 3. Mobilise public opinion. Talk to other Human
> Rights networks and groups. Doesn't matter if they
> are from the Child Rights sector or Environment or
> Old Age. We must get as many people on our side as
> we can, and fast!
>
> 4. Contact politicians & senior bureaucrats known to
> you or your friends. Every Member of Parliament will
> count. We need to make them aware, sensitise them,
> and ask them to write to the Prime Minister. Chief
> Ministers and Senior Leaders, etc. can be even more
> influential.
>
> 5. While I begin my Hunger Strike in Delhi on 7th
> May, what can you do to express solidarity & support
> in your city? Please think this through. Can you
> launch a relay fast or a dharna? Or, can you take
> out a large, huge rally? The bottomline is that WE
> as the disability sector will have to be seen as
> one. Please see what best you can do.
>
> The coming week is critical. Let's hope and pray. I
> hope God Almighty gives us the necessary courage and
> the strength.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Javed Abidi
> 28.4.02
>
>
> STATEMENT
>
> From time to time, over the last 6 years (since the
> passage & enactment of The Disability Act), we have
> been drawing the attention of the Government and its
> various Ministries towards the cause of people with
> disabilities. It goes without saying that disabled
> persons are as much the citizens of this Nation as
> anyone else. There are 60-70 million of them (as per
> conservative estimates) and their fate and their
> future can no more be held mercy to the whim or the
> fancy of the Government of India. They must get
> their rightful share. And, in any case, what
> extraordinary demands do they have to begin with?
> All that they want is to step out of their homes and
> not be caged inside in the absence of access and a
> barrier -free environment. All that they want is to
> go to a school or a college and for the doors to be
> not shut on their faces or on the faces of their
> parents. All that they want is to work and to earn a
> decent living and not have to survive on doles and
> charities. And then, if luck so permits, they do
> want to go to a cinema or to a park or to a shopping
> place just as anyone else! And why can't our
> Government ensure that if all of this cannot happen
> overnight, then at least a decent and honest
> beginning is made? After all, we do have a 'law'
> now?!!
>
> The Disability Act was passed by the Parliament in
> December of 1995. It was notified on 7th February,
> 1996. It contains several fantastic provisions and
> if, just if, 10% of those were to be implemented
> faithfully, the future for the disabled in this
> country will begin to change. The law guarantees 3%
> reservation in all educational institutions but even
> after 6 years of the law, there is not one
> university or college in India that can be termed as
> barrier-free. The law guarantees 3% reservation in
> jobs in all governmental institutions, PSUs, etc.,
> but the provision is flouted day in and day out.
> Hardly any disabled people have got recruited over
> the last 6 years. The law mandates incentives for
> employers in the private sector if more than 5% of
> their workforce is comprised of disabled people, but
> the Government is yet to even spell out as to what
> those incentives are. Obviously, in the absence of
> that, no recruitment of disabled people has taken
> place in the private sector either. The law directs
> that all public places should be made accessible but
> buildings are getting constructed even today without
> any barrier-free features.
>
> Leave concrete action aside, even meetings are not
> held. The law mandates that the Central Coordination
> Committee (CCC) must meet at least once every 6
> months. In the past 6 years, it should have met 12
> times. It has met only 3 times. The law mandates
> that the Central Executive Committee (CEC) must meet
> at least once every 3 months. In the past 6 years,
> it should have met 24 times. It has met only on 8
> occasions. Under The Disability Act, the CCC is the
> policy making body, while the CEC is the decision
> making body!!!
>
>
>
> The law was passed in December, 1995 and was
> notified on 7th February, 1996. The law mandates
> that it will be governed/implemented by the Chief
> Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD).
> For over two-and-a-half years, the Government of
> India kept this post vacant. It required a Midnight
> Vigil by the Disabled Rights Group (DRG) on the
> night of 14th-15th August, 1998, to wake up the
> Government from its slumber. Once appointed, the
> Chief Commissioner (an IAS officer) was not allowed
> to function effectively. To harass him and to
> undermine the Disability Commissioner's office, the
> Government tried to shift the Office of the CCPD to
> Nagpur, saying that the place is in the centre of
> India and so, it will be 'easy' for disabled people
> from all over the country to reach it!!! DRG took on
> the Government then again and asked a rather simple
> question: 'If equi-distance is indeed such a core
> criterion, the why not shift the PMO to Nagpur as
> well???'. The office never went to Nagpur after that
> but the harassment continued. Finally, Mr. B.L.
> Sharma resigned in disgust and the office was vacant
> once more. This time, DRG and several other NGOs and
> disability groups demanded that a disabled person be
> appointed as India's next CCPD. The Government
> ignored the demand and chose one, Dr. Uma Tuli (who
> supposedly runs a welfare NGO/Trust for the
> disabled) over General Ian Cardozo, an amputee from
> the Bangladesh war plus the Head of Advocacy Unit at
> the Spastics Society of Northern India (SSNI); and
> Mr. Sarabjeet Singh, a wheelchair user after
> terrorist violence in Punjab plus one of the Founder
> Members of DRG, actively involved in the drafting
> and the passage of The Disability Act. And as if
> that was not enough, the Government rubbed salt on
> the wounds of the disability sector by shifting the
> CCPD's office from Central Delhi to some far off
> corner in Noida. The place is so unapproachable that
> disabled people have just stopped going there.
>
> I can actually go on and on and on...
>
> On 7th February, 2002, we commemorated the 6th
> Anniversary of the enactment of The Disability Act.
> We could not have allowed such an important
> milestone to just come and go. We placed 13 demands
> before the Government (copy enclosed). We sent a
> representation to the Prime Minister, to the Finance
> Minister, and to the Social Justice Minister. None
> of them have even acknowledged our letter!
>
> We then sent a copy of that representation to the
> Leader of the Opposition and to other key political
> leaders, including a few former Prime Ministers.
> They lobbied for us. We received an acknowledgement
> from Mrs. Sonia Gandhi's office. Mr. I.K. Gujral
> wrote to the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister
> did acknowledge his letter, saying that he will
> 'look into the demands'. On Mr. Somnath Chatterji's
> intervention, Finance Minister met with us but when
> the Budget was read out, there was not a word on
> disability! We still didn't lose hope. We kept up
> our efforts. This Friday, Mr. Yashwant Sinha got up
> a
>
>
> second time in the Parliament, this time to read the
> Amendments to the Budget Bill. While he lowered the
> customs duty on butter, he did not reduce the
> customs duty (leave alone, exempt the same) on
> wheelchairs or on braillers or on hearing aids!
>
> When we placed our 13 demands before the Government
> on 7th February, we had also said that we would
> expect the Government to act upon them within the
> timeframe of 3 months. In fact, we had wanted 5 of
> the 13 demands to be fulfilled within 1 month. One
> of them and the easiest of course was the shifting
> of the office of the Disability Chief Commissioner
> back to Central Delhi from Noida. Even this most
> basic and simple demand has not been fulfilled.
>
> So, what do we do now? We are not just sad or angry.
> We are frustrated and at a complete loss. Are our
> demands so invalid? Do the 70 million disabled
> people of India not have the same rights as the rest
> of the able-bodied Indians? Should we not aspire to
> attend a school or college; should we not want to
> get a job and earn a living; should we not desire to
> go watch a movie or spend an evening in a park?
>
> IF NOT, THEN WHY LIVE AT
> ALL?????????????????????????????
>
> We have had our share of protests and rallies. We
> have held innumerable dharnas. We have had two
> 'token' Hunger Strikes. I guess, DRG has done all it
> can within the realms of a democracy to lodge its
> protest on various occasions; to draw attention
> towards the needs of disabled people; to
> seek/request/demand/plead for people with
> disabilities to be treated as equal citizens of this
> otherwise great Nation. But, we have failed. And as
> the Convenor of DRG, I take complete responsibility
> for this failure. In my wisdom, therefore, I have
> decided that I will begin an Indefinite Hunger
> Strike from 12:00 noon on Tuesday, 7th May.
>
> My suspicion is that the Government does not take us
> seriously. And, it is about time in the history of
> this Nation that its disabled citizens ARE taken
> seriously. If my suffering or my death brings about
> that change, I will consider myself extremely
> fortunate.
>
>
> JAVED ABIDI
> Convenor, DRG
> 28th April, 2002
>
>



OUR DEMANDS

WITHIN ONE MONTH

·        Raise the limit of the Income Tax exemption
for disabled people and their parents from Rs.40,000/=
to Rs.1,00,000/=.

·        Exempt the Aids & Appliances meant for the
use of disabled people, e.g. wheelchairs, braillers,
hearing aids, etc. from import duties and taxes.

·        Announce the Incentives for the Private
Sector to promote employment opportunities for
disabled people amongst the Indian corporates.
Section 41 of The Disability Act clearly mandates this
and six years is a long enough time for the Ministry
of Finance, Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of
Industry. etc., to wake up from their deep slumber.

·        Shift the office of the Chief Commissioner
for Persons with Disabilities from Noida back to
Central Delhi.

·        Sack Dr. Uma Tuli as India’s Chief
Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities.  She
obviously doesn’t deserve the job.

WITHIN THREE MONTHS

·        Extend all facilities that are at present
available only to the orthopaedically, visually and
hearing impaired to those with mental impairment as
well.  Something as ordinary as a concession in bus
fares is still not being given to people with mental
and / or developmental disabilities and their escorts,
in spite of various announcements and promises.

·        Give 1% reservation for people with mental
and / or developmental disabilities in the C and D
category jobs.  It is about time that the Nation and
its policy makers & decision makers realized and
understood that a ‘mentally challenged’ person is not
a ‘mad’ person.  She/he is also capable of
contributing to the society if given a chance and the
right environment.

·        Take steps (concrete and timebound) to
standardise the Indian sign language.

·        Revise immediately the so-called ‘Revised Job
List’ which is full of defects.

·        Abolish the office of the Chief Commissioner
for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) and instead,
appoint/constitute a full-fledged DISABILITY
COMMISSION with 5 to 7 members, on the lines of say
the National Human Rights Commission, etc.

·        Pass the Amendments to The Disability Act
1995 (pending for almost two years or perhaps more).

·        Shift ‘Special Education’ (whatever that
means !!) from the Ministry of Social Justice &
Empowerment to the Ministry of HRD. The Department of
Education should be made responsible for the education
of all Indian children / students and not just the
non-disabled ones.

·        Pass an Ordinance to ensure barrier-free
design and access features for disabled people in all
future constructions.  No more public buildings or
utilities to come up unless they have met the
necessary requirements as mandated under The
Disability Act.

________________End of message______________________

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