. T he S truggles of the D isabled The differently abled are not ‘disabled’ only because they are physically or mentally ‘impaired’ but also because society is built in a manner that does not cater to their needs. In contrast to the struggles over Dalit, adivasi or women’s rights, the rights of the disabled have been recognised only very recently. Yet in all historical periods, in all societies there have been people who are disabled.
One of the leading activists and scholars of disability in the Indian context, Anita Ghai, argues that this invisibility of the disabled can be compared to the Invisible Man of Ralph Ellison. Ellison’s novel of that name is a famous indictment of racism against African Americans in the USA. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in the circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard distorting glass.
When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, figments of their imagination. Indeed everything and anything except me (Ellison, : ). The very term ‘disabled’ is significant because it draws attention to the fact that public perception of the ‘disabled’ needs to be questioned. Divide your class into groups.
Each group can chose a topic relating to women’s rights on which they must collect information from newspapers, radio, television news or other source. Discuss your findings with your classmates. Possible examples of topics could be : per cent reservation for women in elected bodies Domestic violence Right to employment … there are many other topics of interest, choose the ones which interest you.