CHENNAI: Outside the Tamil Nadu State Election Office, a small crowd of differently-abled people milled around in the scorching heat – some leaning on canes and crutches, others in their wheelchairs, but all of them with a single purpose. A little later, a mini bus, full of more representatives of the group, landed to lend their support.In the light of the candidature of a speech and hearing impaired woman, T Kavitha, being rejected, the Federation of the Tamil Nadu Physically Handicapped Associations (FTNPHA) led a demonstration outside the State Election Commission office today. They also condemned the use of the words “sevittu-oomai” (deaf-mute) in the Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act Sec 37(3) and the laws which “reject (them) on the basis of disability alone.” Reacting to the issue, Vice President of the FTNPHA TMN Deepak asked, “If our former chief minister Karunanidhi wishes to contest in the Mayor elections, will he be kept out? He too is wheelchair bound.”Kavitha aspired to be a candidate from the Navamaal Kapper village in Villupuram district, which is a women’s ward. Her candidature was rejected based on the above mentioned clause, which stipulates that persons of "unsound mind or deaf-mute" will not be allowed to contest. Deepak said, “On one side, people say we have to be given equal opportunities. On the other hand, we face insensitive laws like these. We do not know what to believe.”India was the seventh country in the world and the first significant country to recognise the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol. Citing this, Deepak says, “People with disabilities should be effectively allowed to participate in political and public life on an equal basis with others. Keeping us out of active politics amounts to taking us back a hundred years, and making our struggle to get to where we are today meaningless.”General Secretary of the federation P Simmachandran says, “Politicians come to our houses asking for our votes – there are 22 lakh such differently-abled people in Tamil Nadu alone. Why should we vote when we cannot represent our own people?” The group said that if no satisfactory action was taken or promised, they would ensure that none of the differently-abled in the state or their families would vote, and they would also encourage others to boycott the elections.Representatives from the federation met the Tamil Nadu State Election Commissioner, S Ayyar, and presented to him a letter demanding the removal of the offending terminology and to take necessary measures to remove such restrictions on the differently-abled. They also requested that the voting centres be made election friendly, with ramps and toilets for the differently-abled, and that they should not be made to walk the 100m distance to the polling booth.Talking to City Express, Ayyar said, “Now that the day for filing nominations has passed, the changes can be suggested in the next Assembly elections. This can be done only if the Act is amended. Their request is very valid and we have already sent a proposal to the Government for the same. I have told them that the needful will be done at the earliest.” He also said that Kavitha would not be able to contest these elections.The federation is also set to file a Public Interest Litigation in the Madras High Court seeking an amendment to the Act. Regarding this, Ayyar said, “I have told them that I will not interfere with their rights. It is their prerogative; I cannot stop them from going to the court. I have assured them that I will not hinder their actions.”Later, in a press release, the commissioner assured that steps would be taken to make the law more humane. Another instance that irked the representatives of the differently-abled was the fact that the Election Commissioner’s office was on the first floor and it did not have a lift or any means by which they could reach .the office directly like others could. Deepak said, “Having a ramp outside is well and good but the discrimination is still evident inside.”‘I’m hurt by the terms used in the law’T Kavitha of Navamaal Kapper village in Villupuram district had applied for the candidature of ward counsellor, in the hope of rectifying her village’s problems. Her dreams crashed when her candidature was rejected. “I applied with the help of a lawyer. So, there is nothing wrong with my application,” says Kavitha, through a representative of the Federation of Tamil Nadu Physically Handicapped Associations. “I manage 10 women who work for me. I have come up despite my impairment and I know I am capable of handling this post,” she says. Saying that she was hurt by the terms used in the law to describe those like her, she says, “Those who have used such terms are the deaf and mute ones. They do not see how much pain their words have caused to those in our community.” What the law says: The Tamil Nadu State Election Commission in their Handbook for Candidates( Rural) under Sec 2.2 (c) say a person can be disqualified from filing nomination if he or she is a deaf/ mute or of unsound mind. And in the Handbook for Candidates( Urban) under Sec 2.3(c) that a person can be disqualified from filing nomination if he or she is deaf/mute or of unsound mind or Leprosy affected.
Comments
0 comment