KARACHI, Aug 5: A law for the “removal of environmental barriers,” is needed for the disabled so that they can fully participate in daily activities in society, say leading representatives of the disabled.

“In the absence of such a law, public buildings such as government offices, schools and parks are built without ramps, lifts and special toilets. This bars the wheelchair-users from visiting such buildings. It also limits education and job opportunities for the disabled,” according to Fatima Mansuri, the chairperson of the Disabled People International Pakistan (DPIP), Sindh chapter.

She said a bill to this effect was presented twice in the National Assembly in June 1991 and in February 1994. On both the occasions it lapsed due to delays and failure to present it in the Senate within the stipulated period. “We need to pursue this matter now,” she said.

Ms Mansuri described how one brilliant student, a wheelchair user, had to be lifted up three flights of stairs in a school to enable her attend classes on the third floor. “This highly prestigious school lacked an elevator. No arrangement for a lift was made even in the new school building in Clifton,” she said.

According to UNICEF, about 10 per cent of Pakistan’s population is disabled, which is over ten million people. “Then why don’t we see women in wheelchairs, with crutches or white canes in the streets and public buildings? Why are the disabled not visible? Simply because of the many barriers - both physical and attitudinal — they face. We need to change this,” she said.

Change is only possible if the organizations of the disabled come together and raise their voice from one platform. “Only then they will be heard by our policy makers,” she said. However, despite efforts by the DPIP, such organizations have failed to rally together.

Mahmood Hussein Musani, the vice-president of the Association of Physically Handicapped Adults (APHA), also enumerated the many problems the disabled face in our society.

A wheelchair user himself, Musani has managed to travel by plane, train and coach, and also has had first hand experience the difficulties a disabled person faces while travelling.

“Ambulatory service, which lifts the wheelchair to the plane, is only provided by the PIA at Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad airports. Once in the plane, a wheelchair user cannot wheel himself through the narrow aisle to his seat. The special wheelchair with folding armrests and side wheels to go through the narrow aisle is only provided by the Singapore Airlines.

A disabled person is expected to leave his wheelchair behind and somehow haul himself to his seat several feet away! “When faced with this difficulty, I had to request the passenger sitting near the door to vacate the seat for me and sit instead in my seat way up in the front.”

He pointed out that the washroom marked for the handicapped at the Jinnah Terminal lacked special fittings, such as railings in the toilet or the low positioned wash basins so that a wheelchair user can wash his hands while seated. No other airport in the country has a special bathroom for the disabled.

Travel by train is also not easy for the physically disabled. “Firstly, there are no ramps that slope gently and can be used with ease by wheelchair users to get into the train. We have to use the ramp meant for the luggage, which is steep and risky.” Bathroom facilities for the disabled are non-existent in the trains.

The disabled face similar difficulties when using a bus or a coach. “Abroad, the seats closest to the door are marked for the disabled and the elderly. Ramps are also provided if need be. Here, there is no such concept,” he said. “So most of the disabled, girls particularly, are stuck at home.”

The disabled also face difficulties going to public buildings. “Abroad, you find lift buttons placed low so that a wheelchair user can reach out to them. Here, the buttons are always high. “Again, abroad, an NOC is granted to a public building only after provisions are made for the disabled. Here, we have no such practice. The KDA had issued a notice to this effect some years ago, but it was ignored.

“Even the burger eateries in Pakistan do not follow their own rules to provide low tables for wheelchair users, which they do in the UK and the US. So where can we go to enjoy ourselves?”

M. Hussein feels that people with disabilities in this society face many barriers and it will take a long struggle for them to be accepted as citizens with special rights. “Our able- bodied brothers and sisters must help us. We need special protective laws,” he said.