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Jammu Kashmir » Community

Posted at: Dec 3 2015 12:21AMINTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Refusing to rest on his laurels, he continues to work for disabled

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Javaid Ahmad Tak’s work came for praise from the PM.

Rifat Mohidin

Srinagar, December 2

Hailing from south Kashmir’s Bijbhehara village, Javaid Ahmad Tak was a normal child 18 years-ago. But on the night of March 21, 1997, when conflict was at its peak in Kashmir, his life changed forever as bullets pierced his spinal cord and made him permanently disabled.

As the world observes the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Javaid remembers the day that changed his vision and made him realise the plight of disabled persons and inspired him to work for their rights.

“I thought I won’t survive. It took me three years to recover so that I could use a wheel chair. My spinal cord was damaged by the bullets,” says Javaid, now 42, who is running an NGO— Humanitarian Welfare Organisation— based in south Kashmir.

Javaid, overlooking his disability, has been trying to advocate the cause of persons with disabilities in Kashmir.

“I used to give free tuitions to underprivileged children in my village as well as encourage people with disabilities to seek their rights because most people are unaware of them,” Javaid said.

After giving free tuitions to the students, he felt the need to help specially-abled children and opened a school ‘Zaiba aapa’, which has 75 students and the first batch has passed Class VIII.

He said nearly two lakh persons in Kashmir have been permanently disabled in the two decades of conflict.

“There are natural disabilities in every part of the world, but in Kashmir, the conflict has added two lakh more to the disability figures. I filed an RTI in 2010 in which I got to know that 900 people suffered permanent disabilities during the summer unrest,” he stated.

The injuries did not stop Javaid’s life. He pursued his dream of getting a Master’s degree in social work and continued to work for people who were suffering like him.

“I really struggled hard to study, it was a difficult dream to pursue. Whatever happened with me, I wanted to help people with disabilities. I have done hundreds of advocacy programmes for differently abled people who continue to be ignored by the government,” he said.

Javaid has received dozens of awards for his work at the national and state level. “After suffering disability, my vision changed. I am really hurt to see how the problems of the disabled person are being ignored. Even if a disabled person is educated and is sitting on a wheel chair, they treat him as a beggar. The disabled people suffer disability as well as social stigma. The world makes sure that every moment they feel they are different from the rest of the world and are not let to lead normal lives,” Javaid claimed, disappointed with the callousness of the government towards the plight of disabled people.

His efforts were acknowledged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his radio show ‘Mann Ki Baat’ this week. Modi congratulated Javaid for doing the commendable work and said he had become a ‘messiah’ for the disabled people. The PM announced that his devotion would be specially remembered on the occasion of disability day on December 3.

Though the government census puts the figures of disabled persons in Kashmir at 3.6 lakh, Javaid claimed he had identified nearly eight lakh persons with disabilities in Kashmir.

“The figures are much higher than shown by the government. Data collected by my NGO shows the figure is eight lakh,” he claimed.

Javaid believes that the schemes of the government do not reach the needy and there is no infrastructure for the disabled persons in the Valley.

“There is no awareness about the schemes among the disabled persons. The government has been ignoring their plight. They are discouraged and discriminated against. The government talks of schools for disabled but there are no facilities anywhere,” he claimed.

The government has no time to think of rehabilitating disabled persons in the Valley, Javaid added.