Handicapped electors decide to make their own voices heard at Parliamentary election
Shunned, isolated and marginalised, they have mostly been given a deaf ear or a blind eye and not accorded their rightful place in society.
Having come to the sad conclusion that enough is enough, they have now decided to take not only their future into their own hands but also their troubles and demands to a different level, creating history.
Uniting under the banner of ‘Raising our voices for us’ (Api venuwen apeyma handa), two Independent groups are set to contest the Parliamentary election on August 17, with the distinction from others being that all candidates are those with disabilities.
The Colombo and Gampaha Districts will for the first time in Sri Lanka’s electoral history see the two lists under the symbols of the computer and the nalawa being displayed at polling booths. While 22 members will contest the poll under Independent Group No. 12 in Colombo, 21 will do so under Independent Group No. 15 in Gampaha.
“It’s a trial,” says Prasanna Rajiv Kuruppu , Convener of ‘Raising our voices for us’, pointing out that according to the 2011 Census there are 1.6 million (8.7%) persons in Sri Lanka over the age of five who have a disability. “We, however, believe that the numbers with a disability are more, around 2.5 million (12.5%) of the population.”
As the count-down to the election begins with just 15 more days, there will be no banners, cut-outs and vehicles plastered with candidate propaganda, he says, pointing out it is hoped to mobilise support through social media and a few advertisements in the newspapers for which they are looking for sponsors. (See box for his profile)
“We have a nice composition,” stresses Mr. Kuruppu, explaining that not only the four main groups in the ‘disability sector’ are represented but there are also many women contestants. While he is the Convener/Leader of both teams from Colombo and Gampaha and will be contesting from the Gampaha District as its leader there, the four groups with disabili- ties include: • Physical disabilities which include those with one or more limb amputations, polio, paralysis, paraplegia and quadriplegia. These people with disabilities are estimated to comprise about 45% of the total dis- abled population. The national campaigner for this group is Dr. Ajith C.S. Perera who is contesting from the Colombo District. • Blind & visually-impaired -- The national campaigner and Colombo group leader is W.M.D. Rathnasekara who is contesting from the Colombo District. • Deaf & hearing-impaired -- The national campaigner is K.K. Brian Susantha who is contesting from the Colombo District. • Parents of intellectually-disabled children and youth – The national campaigner is Nihal Nanayakkara. He, however, is not contesting the election. In a unique move, ‘Raising our voices for us’ also has a national campaign for women with disabilities, spearheaded by well-known disability rights activist Manique Gunaratne who is Senior Trainer at the ICT Training Centre of the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, even though she is not contesting the election, the Sunday Times learns.
Explaining that a set of like-minded people with disabilities decided that it was time to stop sending proxies to Parliament those who were not sensitised to the numerous difficulties faced by them, Mr. Kuruppu says that the disabled wish to have equal rights and an equal voice.“Before this we have had to go before politicians to plead for this or that, like a ‘vote-making’ mechanism. We, however, feel that to win the rights of people with disabilities, a blind person, a deaf person and a person in a wheelchair being in Parliament would make a huge difference,” says Mr. Kuruppu.
This is the best way to get national leaders to make the changes we need, he says.
Dubbing Sri Lanka a “dualist” country, he explains that many laws are in place with regard to people with disabilities. But this is a mirage that is shown to the world, for the reality is different. The laws are there on paper but implementation has not a National Monitoring Mechanism to review the implementation of the regulation at national, district and divisional levels. • Care and rehabilitation of injured service personnel and other victims of the armed conflict – Setting up of a national policy/mechanism to periodically review service personnel who have been released on combat casualty status and provide, when necessary, devices if required; setting up of a mechanism for the care and rehabilitation of combat casualties through home-visits, rather than making the disabled persons seek out such services; effect the promotions of such service personnel released on combat casualty status prior to 2006 and streamline salary and pension anomalies and settlement of arrears without delay; and identify those who have become permanently disabled due to the conflict (civilians, ex-combatants etc.,) and initiate a national mechanism to review them periodically. • Common interventions – Parliamentary approval for the Disability Rights Bill 2014 and setting up a Disability Trust Fund with a minimum of Rs. 500 million provided by the national budget annually. encompass a large group including children, youth, women and elderly. A forgotten group is women who are expecting babies, who sometimes have to take a toddler along with them when they have to attend to work especially in a government office.
Writing letters, lobbying and advocacy, measures resorted to over the years have proved futile, says Mr. Kuruppu, adding that this is the very reason it has been vital to take the grievances before the people, to gain representation in Parliament.
‘Raising our voices for us’ is going to the polls seeking inclusion in the mainstream which should mandatorily be on the foundation of equal opportunity and equal participation.
(Please see related ST2 cover story also)