AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. JAVED ABIDI

September 29, 2012
AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. JAVED ABIDI
Dear Mr. Javed Abidi,


At the very outset, I must appreciate the sense of timing with which you make your calculated moves to create as much confusion and discord as possible among the ranks of persons with disabilities and try to project yourself as the only Champion of the cause of PwDs in our country.

I also admire you for your tenacity and determination with which you pursue your one-point agenda of ‘One Comprehensive Law to cover ALL rights of ALL persons with disabilities’ when majority of PwDs and their organizations have distanced themselves who supposedly considered you as a messiah at one time or the other.

I can understand and sympathize with you for the sense of isolation and frustration you are suffering from and making desperate efforts to re-establish your lost position.

But who is responsible for all this? Let us leave this question for a while and go to your current move of floating an ‘alternate’ draft on Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012 at a time when the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has put on its website a draft with a similar title which is currently being discussed in the entire disability sector.

As I said earlier that you have a perfect sense of timing to fulfill your ego-centric ulterior motives, you have not only floated this socalled draft bill with an intention of sowing confusion and discord in the minds of the ranks of PwDs and their organizations, but you have simultaneously started a media campaign of misleading them by spreading disinformation and distortion of facts.

It is not surprising that confirming to your usual style, you have started targeting organizations representing the interests of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities [PwIDDs] and others for speaking against your single point agenda of “One Comprehensive Law for covering ALL rights of ALL people with disabilities” and defending their right to have a separate law for fulfilling and serving their specific needs by calling them all kinds of names.

But that’s not the point of relevance as those whom you are targeting have proved time and again that they can successfully defend their rights unmindful of your attacks.

Let us once again focus on your socalled ‘alternate’ draft. I hope you have not forgotten your press statement made on the eve of the New year (on 31st Dec. 2010) when the new disability law drafting committee had come out with a draft of the bill and placed it in the public domain for comments and suggestions from the civil society. Without caring to go through its contents you had trashed it and had remarked that it (draft) should be relegated to the wastepaper basket. Ofcourse you had the right to express your views and opinion.

Should we now exercise our right to express our views, opinion and trash your socalled ‘alternate’ draft in a similar way? I think we should not adopt the same methods and means to lower ourselves to your level. The best way would have been to ignore the ‘document’ on which you have invited comments in a hurry with a deadline of 2nd October – the auspicious day when we celebrate Gandhi Jayanti !

But having said this in our view it is necessary to caution the people whom you are targeting and save them from being misled and taken for a ride. We, therefore, are forced to comment on some of the contents of your ‘alternate’ draft.
  • First of all there is nothing original in it; there is no in-depth study or analysis of the issues, problems concerning the PwDs and no feasible, practical or concrete proposals for ensuring, protecting and safeguarding their rights.

• One glaring omission in your draft is that it has scrupulously avoided the word ‘RIGHTS’ but frequently used the word ‘ACCESS’ instead.

• Many of the formulations are just picked either from the new law drafting committee’s draft or the MSJE draft but cleverly using different nomenclatures such as ‘Total Support’ instead of ‘High Support’ and ‘Disability Equality Commission’ instead of ‘National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.’

• We can go on quoting many such examples but those who have read and studied the Committee’s draft or the Ministry’s draft can easily notice it.

• The climax ofcourse comes at the end --- on the last page of the draft in Chapter 61 (a) Repeal and Savings which lays bare your main intention to push forward your single point agenda of ONE COMPREHENSIVE LAW for ALL persons with ALL disabilities. This article of the draft demands the repeal of all other disability related Acts, namely: the PwD Act 1995, the RCI Act 1992, the N.T. Act 1999 and the Mental Health Act 1987.

I do not know whom you are trying to fool as you are surely aware that PwDs including those with IDDs and their organizations today have acquired enough maturity and understanding about their rights and entitlements and the ground realities that exist in the disability sector of our country.

You have brought yourself to a situation of isolation, frustration and desperation only because you are ignoring these realities, the real problems and needs of PwDs and the ground realities in our country. It is not my intention to advise you but it will be a better day for you if you realize this.

It pains me to say that you are riding a high horse. I am certainly aware that you are today holding important positions in many international forums and representing the disability sector of India. I, therefore sincerely feel that it will be better for you if you understand the ground realities and the true aspirations of ALL persons with disabilities in our country.

(J P GADKARI)
Ex-member, New Disability Law Drafting Committee
Director, Projects and Development PARIVAAR