Please don’t give us labels. We have certain problems, and our
problem has been described by the WHO as disability.
This term is recognised all over the world and by all people with
disability. What this word means is that because the way our body works
or because what we do or the way we do it has changed, we face various
barriers in our lives.
These barriers are caused mainly by the attitudes of society. They
see only that we cannot do certain things. So when we do those things
they are surprised. And because of this recently we are being given the
label first ‘differently abled’ and now ‘otherwise abled’.
These terms have been made up by individuals who do not have
disability, and are used by them. I have not yet come across any person
with a disability who uses them. What will be next?
But please would you remember that we are all people first. We are
human beings first. See us like this - we are individuals like you, we
have feelings and needs like you.
And we have problems like you. The difference is in the type of
problem and how severe it is. If our society accepted us as people like
them, we could together overcome the barriers that we face.
We could work together to make our environment suitable for us to use
the abilities that we have as people and to do what others can do - go
to the same schools, do the same jobs and so on.
Because many in our society do not see us as human beings, they are
surprised when we do the things that they do. They are surprised and
clap their hands because we do not do them the same way that they do
them.
But we are able to do them because we have intelligence and can use
the common sense that all of us have. As human beings we can work out
solutions to our problems.
So when we have no hands we lean to use our feet, and we can do this
not because we are differently abled, but because we have the same
abilities all human beings have. We have intelligence, innovation,
motivation, creativity - the abilities that all human beings have.
So please see us in the way that disability is now defined - that we
do have disability, and that we are disabled people because our society
has disabled us. Having a disability is not our fault, we are not
ashamed of it. I think it is because society feels guilty about us that
they like to give us labels to tell us how clever we are.
This kind of labelling is paternalistic and arrogant. I hope the
media will help us to have this unjust labelling removed.
I am not differently abled because I can look after myself although I
use a wheelchair. I am an individual who cannot get a job because I use
a wheelchair. I am a person who has a disability.
A DISABLED PERSON - Colombo 5
The human race is in imminent danger of extinction through
environmental pollution and global warming consequent to the
unrestricted release of green house gases into the atmosphere.
A news item which appeared in the Daily News of 16.11.2006, under the
caption ‘Green house gas’ taken from the ‘News Today - Bangladesh’
states it is estimated that since the beginning of the industrial
revolution, the amount of carbon dioxide has increased 30 per cent,
while the amount of methane has doubled.
The Daily News of 12.10.2006, also carried an article ‘Climate change
sets out scary scenarios’ where reference was made to the ‘Stern’ report
which stressed the need for urgent action.
Much literature is available on the subject but it seems that
Governments are obsessed with the notion of development’, whilst losing
sight of the danger to the existence of man consequent to harmful
effects of certain activities designated as ‘development’.
Therefore, it is imperative that leaders and Governments of all
countries take heed of this catastrophic phenomenon and commence
remedial measures before it is too late. It is time to realise that the
‘party is over’ and now it is time to ‘tighten our belts’ unless
extinction is preferable to sacrifice.
The important question is what steps we should take to arrest the
situation. The first step should be to develop the minds of the public
to realise the gravity of the situation, so that the call for sacrifice
and changes in lifestyles should be understood as being for their own
good, and not as a means of curtailment of Government expenditure or
change of fiscal policy.
Thereafter, the leaders and the Government should be wise and
courageous enough to control motor vehicle imports; industries that emit
green house gases and other pollutants; to curb vehicular and air
traffic; advise the use of bio fertiliser for the sake of survival.
Measures to control pollution and global warming are bound to have an
impact on ‘so-called development’ activity and economic growth, but that
should not deter such measures as people must first be alive and healthy
to reap the benefits of any form of activity.
Thus public awareness programmes should be organised and the
education system adjusted, so as to develop the minds of the young and
old that time is running out and action has to be taken now or perish in
the name of modern development.
J. C. BOANGE – Rajagiriya
Please permit me to say the following about the duty free vehicles.
The Government has been granting generously duty free vehicles for MPs
and Government employees and various categories every five years.
We want to urge the authorities to stop this corrupt system and allow
vehicles every 10 years and not every five years. We are a poor country
and cannot afford to allow luxury vehicles every five years.
MPs and politicians seem to be continuing their spending, free to
import luxury vehicles and sell them to third parties to make money. We
see this as an utter waste of foreign exchange sent home.
It is very much an open secret that many politicians and others sell
their duty free vehicles every five years and make millions to get
another duty free vehicle from the Government.
EXPATRIATE WORKER – Oman
The above captioned article from the writer Premasara Epasinghe
published in the Daily News of January 5 presents a vivid description of
the horrendous, inhuman and primitive methods adopted in slaughtering
cattle for meat.
Readers will no doubt feel grateful to the writer for revealing the
details of what he saw at the abattoir he happened to visit. Isn’t it
most disgusting and shameful that these helpless animals are slaughtered
in this manner to satisfy the demand from beef eaters of this
Dharmadveepa where around eighty per cent of the population consists of
Buddhists and Hindus.
His revelation indeed is a timely eye-opener to our countrymen to
organise a nationwide campaign to appeal, at least to the Buddhists and
Hindus of this country, to give up the consumption of meat.
When there are no meat eaters, cattle slaughter will diminish
drastically. The land will once again flow with milk which nowadays has
become so scarce and expensive.
Our thanks to Epasinghe for touching on this important subject.
D. ATTANAYAKE - Dehiwela
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