Unheard voices

Seventy years have passed since the creation of Pakistan, but, unfortunately, no politician has ever talked about the rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs) at any public forum. We see a lot of hue and cry during the assembly sessions on different issues, but politicians have not raised their voice on the issue that PWDs also possess the right to cast vote in a respectful manner. No one has ever thought or cared whether polling stations are easily accessible to PWDs. Although on the day of election workers from different political parties come to PWDs to take them to the polling stations and ask them to cast their vote in favor of their respective candidates/parties, once they have cast the vote they are left on their own.

The government needs to understand the fact that PWDs are also part of the Pakistani society. Since the election year is approaching, the government should make proper arrangements to facilitate the PWDs so that they can also exercise their right to vote in a convenient manner. All the polling stations must be easily accessible to PWDs so that they may not have to face any troubles. If possible, the government must allocate some resources to provide transportation facility to them. It should be kept in mind that politicians cannot fool people with their lies anymore, just making promises and policies won’t help this time. The politicians now just can’t sit and relax after making legislations as they need to ensure that the benefit of policies reaches the targeted population. Only words will not do anything until backed by actions.

Syed Ali Mukhtar Jafari (Lahore)