In a clear departure from formulaic celebrations of International Day
of People With Disabilities featuring cultural performances by the
disabled students, the Discussion Group at the Department of English,
AMU organized a panel discussion on “Disability: Education, Rights and
Representation in the Indian Context” on 28 November 2017 in the Arts
Faculty Lounge. The event was intended to mark this year's
International Day of People with Disabilities with an academic
interventionlooking into disability and related issues. The panel
discussion was the last in a series of reading-cum-discussion sessions
on Disability organized by the Discussion Group over the past few
weeks. The Panel Discussion was chaired by writer and activist
Prof.Tasadduq Hussain, who is a retired professor from the Department
of Philosophy, AMU. The panelists were Mr. Yogesh Kumar Yadav
(Assistant Professor, Department of History, AMU), Mr. Mohib
Anwar(Assistant Professor, Department of Law, AMU) and Mr. Boopathi P
(Assistant Professor, Department of English, AMU). The panel,
representing the disabled people, discussed the crucial issues such as
education for the disabled, disability and law, Disability Rights
Movements in India and the politics of representation.
The discussion began with a welcome address by Dr. Muneer A.K,
Teacher-in -Charge of the Discussion Group. Setting the right tone for
the panel discussion, in his talk, Dr. Muneer called attention to the
importance of maintaining a distinction between impairment and
disability, and the need for cultivating a language that neither
romanticizes nor infantilizes the disabled. Mr. Yogesh Kumar spoke
about the origin of special schools in India. He began by saying that
AMU should feel proud of having started the special school for the
visually impaired in 1927 after the first special school for the
visually impaired established in 1887 inAmritsar, Punjab. He further
noted the increase of special schools for the disabled children in the
post-independence period from less than 100 to 2500. Mr. Yogesh said
that given the disabled population, the schools are not enough to
cater to the educational needs of the disabled. He concluded by saying
more schools should be established to educate the large masses of the
disabled in rural areas. Mr. MohibAnwar talked about the 1995
Disability Act and the recent 2016 Rights of Persons With
Disabilities’ Act. He compared the two Acts and said the new Actwas a
significant improvement in that it acknowledged more disabilities and
included more provisions for the disabled. He also spoke about the
increase in reservation for the disabled in government jobs from three
percent to four percent and in education from three percent to five
percent. While elucidating the 2016 Act, Mr.Mohibalso highlighted its
shortcomings in accommodating the disabled people in government jobs
through ‘reasonable accommodation’. Mr. Boopathi spoke about how the
Disability Rights Movements in India emerged in the late 1980s taking
inspiration fromDisability Rights Movements in the west and women’s
movements in India. He further talked about how the disabled movements
in India took up right-based approach instead of the charity-based one
and fought for right to life on par with the able bodied people. He
also emphasized how the advocacy of the disabled centers in urban
areas, due to which the large number of disabled in rural parts were
leftunrepresented. Mr. Boopathi concluded his talk by saying that like
women’s movements, disability movements also should get into academics
in order to create academic discourse and debates around disability.
The panel chair, Prof.Tasadduq Hussain, a veteran disability activist,
concluded the discussion by saying that the debates about disability
should always center on right-based approach rather than sympathetic
or charity-based ones. Mr. Danish Iqbal, Teacher-in-Charge of the
Discussion Group, proposed a vote of thanks. Ms. Iram Siddiqui, a
student of first semester MA English, conducted the programme. Faculty
members and students from across the university attended the event.
--
Regards
Boopathi P,
Assistant Professor,
Department of English,
Faculty of Arts,
Aligarh Muslim University,
Aligarh, UP, 202002,
India.
Mobile: +91-9843693951
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