We should not be called disabled: Balkh handicaps

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): A number of people with disabilities in northern Balkh province have asked religious scholars to preach the society through mosques about the good treatment of handicapped people.

The disabled people held a joint meeting with religious scholars in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, today and shared their problems with them.

“People with disabilities are not called disabled because a person with a disability is one who has done negative things such as theft, murder or corruption,” they said.

Sayed Mohammad Yazdanparast, a spokesman for Rights Advocacy Network, said disability was an imposed social phenomenon caused by war, poverty, lack of polio vaccination and genetic issues.

“People with disabilities are not called disabled, because a person with a disability the one who are involved in bad activities,” he said.

He called on Hajj and Religious Affairs Department of Balkh and the clerics of the province to educate people about the proper treatment of the disabled people in mosques.

BasitMawalvizada, a 12th-grade student at a special school for the disabled in Balkh, told Pajhwok that he had difficulty getting to school and did not have transportation facility.

He asked Islamic scholars to talk to people about their problems during Friday prayers and to aware them on the rights of people with disabilities.

Mohammad Akram, another disabled person, said that disabled people are the most vulnerable people in the society and they face many problems.

He says that people with disabilities are not able to work like other human beings and always face economic difficulties.

On the other hand, NiamatullahAbu Tariq, head of guidance in charge of Hajj and Religious Affairs Department of Balkh, said that the role of religious scholars is important in spreading awareness about the rights of people with disabilities.

He said that he would inform all clerics of Balkh about the issue and tell them to preach about respect to people with disabilities through sermons in mosques.

mds/ma

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