Rawalpindi – The Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) has given one month deadline to the federal and provincial government to do legislation to protect the rights of blinds and the disabled, besides increasing job quota, education and health facilities and representation on special seats in national and provincial assemblies for the special people.

The CPDI would agitate on Constitution Avenue on January 2, 2015 along with the visibly impaired and blind persons if the governments failed to meet the deadline. CPDI Program Manager Syed Kausar Abbas expressed these views while talking to media men at a protest demonstration held at Recue 15 Office on Murree Road against brutal torture of Lahore police on blind people. The protest demo was arranged jointly by Ability Foundation for Disabled Person, The Angles School for Special Education and Aman Development Foundation.
The protestors including disabled men, women and children, most of them were sitting on wheelchairs, were chanting slogans against police and holding placards and banners.
Addressing the protestors, Syed Kausar Abbas expressed his extreme grief and sorrow over police torture on the blinds in Lahore. He said that the disabled and blind persons are important part of the society. He said that no government could pay attention towards the problems of the blinds and visibly impaired.
He said, “Blinds and the disabled deserve our attention and kind behaviour. Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif and Inspector General of Punjab Police Mushtaq Sukhera should take notice of police torture on blinds and should punish guilty cops.” He said that the government should organise training sessions to change the rude behaviour of police so that such shameful incidents could not be taken place in future.
Abbas asked the government to do legislation to protect the rights of blinds and the disabled, besides increasing job quota, education and health facilities and representation on special seats in national and provincial assemblies for the special people. “We give the government 30 days deadline to meet our demands. All the blind and disabled people will stage a protest demonstration on Constitution Avenue on January 2, 2015 if the government fails to accept our demands,” he said.
Nadim Joseph, director of The Angles School for Special Education, Muhammad Tufail, head of Aman Development Foundation, Malik Aamir Fida Paracha, Sumaira Gull, Shamsur Rehman Swati and PTI MPA Arif Abbasi also addressed the protestors and vehemently denounced police torture on the blind persons on Davis Road, Lahore.

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