Wherever there are political, economic, and social crises: regardless, can practice his own freedom of expression and religion. Regardless of tensions within the nation – the right to roam around in a state as a free rider. One has his social rights.

Regardless of governance in Pakistan, the individual, the free rider can practice his own freedom of expression, religion and so on. This article is a narrative rather than a guide for Persons with Disabilities, about the unjust treatment of disabled people.

The right of education

Education is a right for all defined by the UN and other international agencies such as UNICEF. The global average intake of school pupils is 5 to 16, an early part of Childhood moving into Adulthood. The biological changes that take place during this period are for most, if not all, children. Regrettably a disabled child is not allowed to particpate in schooling as it will affect the norms of society. In areas like GB and KPK where tribalism exists, this is more so of the case.

Right to healthcare

Healthcare facilities are not disabled-friendly. Wherever there is a chance, healthcare professionals ignore Persons with Disabilities. In Gilgit, where there is a smaller community as compared to Islamabad or Lahore, healthcare is not being standardised for the disabled community. For instance a key part of our work, is data entry but most of the time, we do not have the accurate information of CNICs and whatnot. This is a public health failure.

Housing

The famous Pakistani People’s Party Slogan ‘ Give bread, clothes and a state-controlled or autonomous. is one of many that BB’s party gave. For more than 70 years, whether state controlled or autonomus, governments have been selling these slogans. Why? There was a famous social prottection policy being implemented in GB? What has been done about that?

Other Rights

Even a decent walk in the park or the JamatKhana or the mosque is not permissible by the social norms values of Pakistani society. This has to change. People have to stop playing GOD in Society

Support our mission in tackling this inequality

Latest updates

Many past sociologists have contested whether one’s environment (nurture) or whether one’s genetic code influences one’s life chances (nature). Whether you are on either side of the debate, facts cannot be distorted. We are told by many people what is the success rate of this (skills development center). We often have to gather evidence, write reports, etc., but let it be known that the People of Gilgit Baltistan are, if not the most accepting of disabled people at the moment, will be in the years to come because education is evolving daily within the region.

Investing in Gilgit Baltistan’s Disabled Society is a smart move.

While one investor should know the problems of disabled people in Gilgit Baltistan Home, one should also consider the environment of Gilgit Baltistan, its educational attainment and the general background of the area. While many of the problems are highlighted on this website, let it be known that evidence has come from reputable sources, including Ijaz Shigri’s report that highlights ‘ Gilgit Baltistan is open for education as net enrolment is high ‘ Shigri, 2016. Moreover, the Al Jazeera report of education thriving in Hunza supports Shigri’s viewpoint, but how is this related to disabled people? Behaviourism!

Conformity and Investment

Many investors lack the psychological knowledge of Behaviourism within human beings. Applying Stanley Milligram’s 1961 obedience experiment, we can say that disabled people will be ambitious to compete with their non-disabled counterparts. We see this on social media, but more often than not, the obedience experiment Reflects human behavior. The point I am trying to make here is with such a competing environment, disabled people of Gilgit Baltistan will over the time use this psychological hack to their advantage.

Any evidence to back your claim up?

Like we said whether you are on either side of the debate, facts cannot be distorted. The Sociology Head Zubair Ahmed of Gilgit’s KIU talked about a disabled student Muhammad Rafi who said that Rafi now can access notes due to Goodwill’s work Zubair Ahmed’s speech. Likewise many videos on our YouTube channel shows that students are gaining the skills which is reflective of our actions Goodwill Channel.

Looks and appearance majorly influence human beings’ actions .  They know their actions when someone says, ‘ I am only human.’ The last article, which mentioned fear, did not go in-depth about how a disabled person interacts in society the previous article.  When representing an organization, an individual jumps into the flight or fight response when they have to report objectively – Political or social Government policies.  However, Humans rely on the aesthetic – Looks and appearances- which is superficial but needs to be addressed.

Seeing a disabled person

When one sees a disabled person walking down the street, one automatically gets into this sympathetic mode: which is acceptable; however, the person could be a scientist or a researcher, which one does not assume.  It is this aesthetic factor that makes us sympathetic.  In Gilgit Baltistan, though one should have sympathy, it does not mean one should think they are incapable of working or studying.  Why should we assume anything when we do not have information?  I recently met a person I took to the training center in Gilgit who initially could not comprehend how technology made it easier for disabled persons to interact with the world wide web.  These situations are terrible to witness because it shows you that the aesthetic matters rather than the personality or the mind.

Silent Workers

The other thing is that most of the time, Persons with Disabilities do not want to disclose information about their disability often because they feel that society will ridicule them for their ‘ health issue.’ During these last few years, I have interacted with many disabled persons – from Pakistan and beyond who would not be concerned about their health issues simply because society will not accept them. We are working on a couple of cases that involve individuals due to their disability not getting any jobs Mumtaz’s story. .

These issues need to be addressed, as basically, one is saying that because of our psychological thoughts, a disabled person should not be employed. Even in Islam, the main religion of Pakistan says that disabled persons should be treated equally.

So who are we to judge based on looks and appearances

The Key to liaising with A Non-Profit Organization in Pakistan is whether they meet specific goals and objectives. The Government of Pakistan defines our organization as an organization that works for the welfare of disabled persons, social welfare act (1961).

The Problems of the Region

Gilgit Baltistan Goodwill Movement only works within the region of Gilgit Baltistan. The organization wishes to see

• Increase access to education and training for people with disabilities.

•          Provide affordable healthcare services to people with disabilities.

•          Promote social inclusion and reduce stigma towards people with disabilities.

•          Provide assistive devices to enhance the mobility and independence of people with disabilities.

•          Improve the quality of life for people with disabilities by providing food and shelter.

In the case of Gilgit Baltistan, the awareness of Persons with Disabilities is extremely low. the National accountability bureau (one of the leading institutes of the government of Pakistan) has illegally occupied the accommodation of the  Special Education Complex within Gilgit: which in summary, was a boarding school-like accommodation for disabled people Pamir Times Report on Disabled People. This then leads to adult employment being hindered, as discussed many a times on this website blogs. It is one thing for human rights organizations to dedicate themselves to supporting and voicing the human rights of political workers but not for disabled people across the country.

Call this a conclusion, but it is factually accurate as disabled people are voiceless in the country even though they are a more significant majority of the State of Pakistan Nation’s report.

Taking Back Control

More than a few times, I have been told how disabled people can progress with such laws. It is time we take back control, I say. Not in a radical way, may I add. But in a way in which the government and local initiatives like ours work together. On different forums, I have suggested this, but with the ambitions that we have, we need moral support as well as financial support in Gilgit Baltistan.

If governing structures are not strong enough, we must make them more robust by liaising with different organizations and individuals my vision.

As the Pakistani poet Habib Jalib said, ‘ I refuse to acknowledge, I refuse to accept.’ Not to misrepresent Jalib, but perhaps he didn’t realize that a positive side of Gen Zia ul Haque was, in effect, that he eliminated ableism to a certain extent. That is pretty much all one can say about what Gen Zia ul Haque did that was positive – but that can be debated, and we do not want to go down the political route. I hope this acts as a guide for some to identify ableism.

Refusing to accept that society has an ableist nature

I recently reflected upon some experiences that my friends, both in Gilgit and the UK, told me of how they were discriminated against in the societies that they live in. Ableism is alive and kicking, but like everything, one cannot fully prove that ableism happened in one’s community. Yes, sentiments can hurt, but they cant be provable in a court of law. So what are some of the signs that one can notice which can indicate ableism?

Signs of Ableism

• Being empathetic for no good reason
• Rejecting one’s feelings (emotionally), be it in whichever way possible.
• Inconsiderate of Disabled people

Power versus disabled people.

Even the most left-wing character Karl Marx describes an ideal man to be ‘

the ‘ ideal man ‘[1] is someone ‘ who can coordinate certain cognitive and physiological abilities’ . So can we say that Lenin or Stalin were Marx’s ideal men or Putin be over the top. I think not and one of the point that I was alluding to in another article is society needs to get out of this zone where disabled people are all poor and must be all good Morality and Governance – How PWDS are respected – Why is this? Fear?. NO!

We do not need to keep giving disabled people just charity but also give them the skills to achieve something.

Visit Home

[1] Steffan Bengtsson, Out of the frame: disability and the body in the writings of Karl

Marx, Scandinavian Journal Of Disability Research, 2017. Page 154.

Ayazbullah rahmanir satan e rasheem, Bishamllah Ramhan ur Rahim.

My dear senior minister Abaid Ullah Baig Saheb, faculty members, and my disabled friends asslam alokium. If we were to talk about the rights of special persons, then the first pressing issue which arises is the education of Persons with Disablities. No society progress without education.

In Gilgit Baltistan, today we have on each street a college or a school for abled persons, but not for disabled persons. For instance, when I was studying, there didn’t use to be any government schools for disabled persons within the region except for a private school, Vision Eye International. From there I went to Islamabad for my further studies and Lahore for my Graduation. Though my example is a bit old, it still shows that there are problems for persons with disablities even today.

Even today, though there is a primary school in the Gilgit division, http://www.gilgitbaltistanscouts.gov.pk/TOGeography%20.html, it is still hard for people to access from far-flung areas. This raises a question: why are disabled persons deprived of their rights? I will give you an example. In my hometown, Ghizer, there is a special education complex but mismanagement.

But apart from the education of disabled persons, the government should also ensure that persons with disablities are becoming employable. As mentioned above, I went down South for my further studies: this meant that along the way I made some friends from Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi who are now all employable, but thousands of people like me in GB arent. We have struggled for our education, and we deserve employment. The government should heed attention to this.

When I came back to GB in 2019, there was a disabled act 2019 that was passed unanimously by the GB Government unanimously, and we founded the Disabled Alliance in Gilgit Baltistan for whom I was the president for a year that worked on issues surrounding PWDs. Now we have eight of the disabled-led organizations in GB that visually impaired persons lead. So my request to the government is to heed attention to the special person’s community of Gilgit Baltistan. If disabled persons are leading organizations such as ours, can’t they work in the government sector?

I Would like to express my gratitude to the KIU sociology department and Mr. Zubair Ahmed, its Head for organizing this awareness session and for the students who were listening to my speech. Tommorow we would expect these students who might become lawyers, government ministers or etc to extend their hands to support the disabled cause. Disabled people in the rest of Pakistan have become 1: Lecturers, 2, Ambassadors and Teachers, so why cant we? We can!!!!!!!

In the next few days, we will reflect on the speeches made at KIU on the 6th of June, 2023. Some key points will be taken out and edited.

Dear all, it is an honor to give you this speech. The main points that we are discussing today will be of

1. Disability Awareness –Raising

2. Understanding each other for cooperation and collaboration

3. Introducing Gilgit Baltistan Goodwill Movement’s vision.

Like many other disabled-related organizations, the vision of GBGM is for Persons with Disabilities to work for themselves and establish, manage and lead their organizations. Of course, through our efforts we want GB society to realize that they have a responsibility to provide an enabling environment to PWDs through encouraging and supporting them in all possible ways.

Before GBGM, I had hands-on experience working for and with disability-related causes. I founded the First Disabled Students Network in my former college, the City of Glasgow College https://www.citysa.co.uk/get-involved/sports-societies/society/dsn-test/. I am also a member of the Glasgow Disability Alliance https//gda.scot. I know what it is like being in a disabled-led organization.

While my parents are from the region, it was not until when I supported disabled-related causes in GB that this idea of GBGM was designed as an organization. I already started some social media awareness under this name back in August 2019. The GBGM GB team is made up of mostly educated disabled students who have not been employed due to their disability.

Like any professional organization GBGM first – 1. Collected data and liaised with local disabled persons organizations. This was done by meeting the local and relevant organizations that were working for persons with disablities and at the same time visiting the families of PWDs. 2. GBGM reached out to the neediest people with disablities in areas like Hunza, Nagar, Ghizer, Puniyal and Astore. This was at the same time as Registration where Persons with Disablities were themselves able to register an organization by visiting government offices and etc.

Our long-term project is working on the skills development of persons with disabilities in Gilgit City. I believe that research has proven that such training improves the employability skills of PWDs. We train PWDs in the following skills IT, Music, LED Bulb Making, etc but due to a lack of funds, we are not able to support a bigger cohort.

As I have been brought up in Glasgow, UK, I want to replicate the Scottish model of disability governance within GB. This will require governmental, individual, and organizational funding. I want to also let people know that in January 2023 on our Islamabad trip, we made links with :

•AKDN/ AKAH

•Hashoo foundation

•PPAF

•STEP

•NAV –Tech

•Reputed Experts in the field

If given more funding, we can professionalize GBGM and hopefully continue expanding our skills development project.