Disability is neither a curse nor an obstacle to success. I strongly believe that persons with disabilities are not people with curses but rather suffering from health problems causing the disabled condition. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 600 million disabled persons in the world, of which approximately 80 % live in low-income countries.
There is no denying the fact that the government has also taken many initiatives to give disable people their due rights but a lot more needs to be done. Persons with disabilities require societal protection and support to compensate for their inabilities therefore, the government and its relevant departments must also help associations like The Rising Star not only to strengthen people with disabilities but also to treat them as equal citizens. Only words will not do anything until backed by actions.
It will not be out of place to mention here that the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities promotes, protects and ensures the full and equal availability of all human rights and fundamental civil freedom to all persons with disabilities and promotes respect for their inherent dignity.
Therefore, every effort should be made to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disabilities and such persons must be given their due rights and share so that they could be enabled to contribute in the development of the country in an active manner.
Syed Ali Qasim
Lahore
