Humans are one of the essential elements of human civilization. The word “Disabled” is closely associated with the word Human in the heart of this world. Disability is a widely studied topic nationally or internationally in the present era, and is positively read as differently abled.
Disability is not an artificial issue; instead, it occurs due to various reasons; for instance, some are born with disabilities, it could be due to various accidental factors. No man or women in this world finds himself/herself complete or self-sufficient. They are slightly or minutely handicapped in some way or the other. Though they are disabled, we have to accept that they are not a burden on this society or to their families. However, in some South Asian countries, people with disabilities are considered a burden on society, the family, and on the state, instead of making their different abilities, as some do possess extraordinary talents. They are simply kept within the walls of their abode home and make them rue over their physical condition, and thereby allow them to conclude that they are of not use to the others and for themselves.
Countries such as Bangladesh, India or Sri Lanka, have the vicious habit of ‘locking up’ the people at their own houses, with a tag worn around their necks to remind them that they are ‘disabled’. This ridiculous practice has been going on for ages. Even in the modern era; in 2022, people could not break these shackles. It is common sense that no average men or women — who is disabled or not — can spend their entire life nostalgically behind locked doors and staring at the walls. Hence, it is essential to ensure giving them proper education, necessary training and exposure to get the potentiality from them in order to decorate their life, make them self-dependent and look after himself/herself and others and help uphold and protect the rights of the disabled.
Also, through a charter in 2008, the United Nations Convention on the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities have recognized the disabled and 164 nations have become signatories to the charter and 29 countries abstained.
Other developed countries in the world, especially the South Asian countries were signatories to this convention. Among them, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are at the forefront. The Bangladeshi government ratified it and contemporaneously agreed to apply on November 30, 2007. Though Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are the signatory States of UNCRPD, they too have their own Acts on Persons with Disabilities. Nevertheless, the terms “Disability” or “Disabled” haven’t been used in the constitutions of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Though the Indian Constitution has some Specific Provisions for Persons with Disabilities, some articles indirectly linked to minorities, but not with persons with disabilities in the Constitution of Bangladesh. Those articles are 15(b), 19(1), and 20(1). Similarly, the Sri Lankan Constitution has no Article to defend or the right to work for persons with disabilities. The constitution does not consist any specific clauses about guaranteeing the right to work of an ordinary person, far from being a disabled person. On the other hand, the Constitution of India mentions Articles 15(2), 16, 21, and 41 about the rights of persons with disabilities and their right to work.
A person’s freedom to work means that it is his/her right; a human right in other words. Every human being is born with the right to join an independent, spontaneous and discriminatory workplace. But employing persons with disabilities in the workplaces is pretty unimaginable in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. People with disabilities are employed or to some extent, portrayed to be doing so, only in the pages of books and newspapers. In reality, their condition is more appalling. The rights of the persons with disabilities is also considered and accepted as his/her right to work, and every country must uphold this practice.
By signing the UNCRPD, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have sworn to ensure all future responsibilities and protection of persons with disabilities. To this end, the government of Bangladesh enacted a law in 2013 to safeguard the rights and safety of persons with disabilities. The Preamble of the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2013 states that since the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh enshrines the commitment to establish all rights, human dignity, fundamental rights of the human being, and social equilibrium, since Bangladesh is a party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (Persons with Disabilities) has not been supported, which is why this law was formulated.
Act No. 39 of 2013
The Act has a total of 44 sections and a schedule. In Bangladesh, persons with disabilities are deprived of working at every stage. If we look at Sri Lanka, we can see that a law was enacted in 1996 to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The Act has 37 sections; the act has passed on October 24, 1996. Section 24 of the Act only mentions that the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, but does not specify how the rights of persons with disabilities shall be protected. India enacted the Rights of Persons with Disability Act in 2016, with 102 sections and one schedule.
To Understand the legal journey of persons with disabilities in South Asia, we can have a look at Kunal Singh vs. Union India & Anr (Civil Appeal No.1789 of 2000)
One such case is that of Kunal Singh. He was appointed as a constable in the Special Service Bureau of India. He sustained an injury on his left leg while on duty. He was given medical assistance, but to no avail. Kunal was forced to amputate his leg due to rotting at the injury site. Based on the medical report, some declared him invalid from the job. The authorities said he was permanently disabled on November 20, 1998 by an order. Kunal Singh moved the High Court, challenging the validity of the order. In the writ, he claimed that such an order of the authorities is arbitrary and said he could slot himself in any alternative employment due to his disability. But the court dismissed the petition. The High Court said he is permanently disabled based on the doctor’s report and is no longer eligible for full-time employment. The appellate court said that Kunal suffered a disability while he was on duty. If the appellant Kunal was not comfortable holding the post where he had been doing; he could have been transferred to any other position of equal rank and pay suitable wages for it. The authorities could have put him on an additional post, if no suitable post was available at that time. But the authorities did not accept such a situation. Instead, the authorities tried to remove the plaintiff, Kunal. The court accepted the appeal of Badi Kunal for the above reasons and ordered the High Court authorities to set aside the order of his removal. At the same time ordered to compensate Kunal except for the authorities.
Other cases in South Asia also indicate the arduous legal journey of persons with disabilities. The list is as follows:
- BLAST and Others vs. Bangladesh and Others, Writ Petition No. 5025/2015.
- Schitra Srivastava vs Chandigarh Administration, 14 SCR 989.
- Educational Department, Government of Tamil Nadu vs. Master J. Rajkumar, (Minor), Wa No. 595 of 2003, Madras (Now Chennai High Court, 30.04.2003
- BLAST and Others vs. Bangladesh and Others, Writ Petition No. 2867 of 2010.
At present, the number of people with disabilities in Bangladesh stands at 2,556,165. There are no credible statistics to shown that how many people with disabilities have been guaranteed employment among such a large number of people with disabilities.
Currently there are 26.8 million people with disabilities in India. But the exact number of people who cannot join the workplaces or are discriminated against, remains unknown.
Similarly, 8.7% of Sri Lanka’s total population are unfortunate victims of disability, with no apparent signs of guarantee that they could secure any jobs.
People with disabilities also have the right to enjoy the full chunk of civil rights along with the other people; every country should ensure and uphold to protect honor and accept the civic rights of people with disabilities and provide them employment opportunities through job-oriented education.
Sk. Iftesham Islam
(The author is currently pursuing his LLM (International Law) at South Asian University, New Delhi, India. He has graduated from North Western University of Bangladesh, Khulna. He has experienced working with National Debate Federation Bangladesh ( NDF BD ) , and the English Olympiad Bangladesh; also, he was a trainee at Active Citizens Youth Leadership training by British Council & Amra Notun Network By Brac. He is the Co-founder of Radio NWU, a campus Radio of North Western University, Bangladesh. He was General Secretary of the North Western University Debating Club)
