Aheli Moitra
Imagine the life of persons living with disabilities in Nagaland. With some form of long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment that hinders the possibility of equal participation in society with others, day-to-day life would be difficult, to state it mildly. As a child, schools would be inaccessible, it would be nearly impossible to commute from one place to another, healthcare would be far-fetched as a result (even if specialised treatment was offered) and friends would be hard to come by. As an adult, the problems would grow manifold. It is no wonder that we never see Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) out on the streets of Nagaland carrying on societal transactions as is common elsewhere in the world.
Living in a society that puts little effort towards making it accessible to all creates a consciously disabled social set up. At least 29,613 persons in Nagaland State, according to its 2011 census, are living with disabilities with almost complete exclusion from the public sphere—government offices, housing, roads, toilets, transportation, church buildings, entertainment avenues, tourist spots, food joints, markets, stadiums, even entire villages have closed their doors to roughly 1.5 percent of the State’s population. Developers forget that a simple staircase can create discrimination. Add to this the deep social stigma attached to disabilities, and we exclude a much larger percentage of people (including care givers), with myriad talents, from ever enriching us. We are, in turn, creating a place where violence, abuse, exploitation, untouchability, torture and other risks to life have to be borne in silence despite the rhetoric of justice and rights for all.
The Nagaland State Disability Forum (NSDF) has recently revealed that government schemes meant for PwDs were not being made available to all of them. The only District Disability Rehabilitation Centre stopped functioning in 2013 (till when it was run with the help of other organisations). Some NGOs are the only ones stepping up to the needs of PwDs. While various (usual) excuses have been made for the government’s failures, the onus for building an enabling society lies with the entire community, not just with the government.
Let us try to contribute where we can—treat people as equals but help each other through the best of our abilities, be aware of the discrimination we dole out when we forget to build a ramp in a building or exclude someone from a meeting unable to climb or see, make sure that when we ask for ‘our’ rights we also speak out for ‘others,’ try resolving issues without leaving people in immobile corners, include them in our familial, social, economic, religious, cultural and political discussions, make conscious efforts to protect people from abuse, respect their privacy, respect their needs, ask for schools to be better equipped to educate all children, health services to be conscious and wide ranging, opportunities for work and employment galore, opportunities to go out and enjoy fresh air, pizza and a movie.
The list is long, but being part of a politically conscious society, this should not be a herculean task.
Hurdles faced may be shared at moitramail@yahoo.com
