Disabling, Crippling, Turning Rights Lame
By Rajive Raturi
The 6-decade-old battle for ensuring just rights of the disabled persons starting off from UN declaration of human rights is far from over as the laws framed at home often go unimplemented, writes Rajive Raturi in his introductory piece for this special issue of Combat Law

Disability of will
By Vandana Bedi
Vandana Bedi, the NGO member representative in the central executive committee formed under the Persons with Disabilities Act shares the poor state of affairs vis-a-vis the functioning of the CEC, the casual approach of bureaucracy and a ray of hope that has emerged lately.

Rehab Agenda
By General Ian Cardozo
Stepping up the level of participation of persons with disability in mainstream civil society, ensuring uniformity, minimum standards and quality of education and training in the field of rehabilitation and special education are all immediate social priorities.

Us and Them
By C. Mahesh
The disabled people often run the risk of being infantilised and are more often considered to be asexual. Therefore there is a total denial of their sexual needs or there are efforts made to control and manage the so-called 'inappropriate' behaviour by them

Is UN showing the way?
By Ushajee Peri
India's nod to UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities means that the State has to spare sizeable resources for the disabled people whose share has so far been conditional to funds' availability. Though the process for this is yet to begin, India stands to gain by setting aside decent allocations for the disabled for their mainstreaming means enhancing productivity through harnessing thus far untapped potential .

Disability rights @ UN
By Radhika Alkazi
Seldom before has any international treaty been worked out the way disability rights were drafted before being signed to become a convention on rights of persons with disabilities. Radhika Alkazi traces the process that may have shaped it, signifying a break from a sordid history of neglect and apathy towards the disabled

The Ability Debate
By Prasanna Kumar Pincha
Quite a few debates are currently raging in the disability rights movement. Special schools or inclusive education, community based rehabilitation or institutionalised rehabilitation— these are some of the very pertinent questions raised and deliberated upon by Prasanna Kumar Pincha, the National Theme leader - UNCRPD, ActionAid India

A Step Forward
By Mallika Iyer
India signed the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disability in March 2007 and ratified it in October 2007. The convention gives voice to the rights of about a tenth of the world's people. In this essay, Mallika Iyer seeks to examine the concept of 'Reasonable Accommodation' vis-a-vis employment after the convention .

Putting Ability into it
By Gopal Mitra
Major (retired) Gopal Mitra recounts the army operation he was leading in Kashmir that led to his disability, the initial frustration and introspection and his current involvement with developmental issues concerning inclusion of persons with disabilities in the mainstream

Socially Secured?
By Pradeep Ghosh
Despite the law in place, social security remains a distant dream for the disabled. Pradeep Ghosh reflects on the battle for securing insurance cover for persons with disabilities, milestones achieved and the model evolved for social security of the families of persons with mental and physical disabilities

Parental Pangs
By JP Gadkari
National Federation of Parents' Associations for Persons with Mental Handicap, Cerebral Palsy, Autism and Multiple Disabilities, shares the common concerns of parents of children with mental retardation.

Employing Beyond Labels
By Dipendra Manocha
The Disability Act 1995 provides for three percent reservation in the 'identified jobs' category. However, even a decade after the Act was passed, few are aware of this list, depriving deserving candidates from rightful employment opportunities.

New Law, Old Flavour
By Laila T Ollapally and Maryanne Thomas
Laila T Ollapally and Maryanne Thomas, practicing advocates in the High Court of Karnataka, examine the provisions of the Mental Health Act, 1987 and find that although it was brought in upon repealing the archaic Indian Lunacy Act of 1912, the new legislation does not fair much better.

Exclusion: Design or Default
By Akhil Paul
Deafblind children, the overwhelming majority of whom requires specialist educational support, have fallen on the 'unfashionable' side of the debate around inclusion.
Akhil Paul writes about combined hearing and visual losses and the role of Sense International in empowering this community in India .

You can...
By Kanchan Pamnani
Challenges are meant to be tested, faced up to, defied, braved and annihilated. Disability is one such challenge. In this refreshingly positive account, Kanchan Pamnani narrates her personal experiences as a practicing lawyer with a disability

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Scent of Freedom
By Nilesh Singit
What is independent living and why is it significant? Nilesh Singit looks at the phenomenon in the context of the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by India, highlighting the inherent relationship between independent living and living with dignity, a basic right that eludes disabled persons in our country.

Editorial

Letters to the Editor

System Mute To Its Deaf
By Arun Rao
The neglect of the deaf within the criminal and civil justice systems of India is rampant and the norm.

Rendezvous With Hope
By Aanchal Khurana
Life for a hearing impaired Delhi girl has started looking up after she met a well meaning westerner in trying circumstances. Aanchal Khurana writes a real life story about enabling a disabled

Deafening Barriers
By DS Chauhan
Communication barriers, being invisible, have attracted next to no attention. The result is that unlike physical barriers which separate people from places, communication barriers separate people from people and lead to the marginalisation of the deaf.

Including The Excluded?
By Susan Bhujel
The case-laws show that the Supreme Court has been sensitive towards disability and in most of the cases the verdict has been in favour of the disabled. No doubt the combination of the effects of these cases will definitely give new dimension to disability law in India. But it is felt that the judiciary has not shown the same zeal, enthusiasm and activism in disability rights cases as compared to activism shown in environmental cases opines

Scarred!
By Sheela Ramanathan
The draft scheme for prevention of acid attacks and for rehabilitation of acid victims have been prepared to combat this heinous act leading to disability that permanently scars the victim physically and emotionally. Sheela Ramnathan recounts her experience in working with a victim of an acid attack and the protracted battle for justice

Alphabets of Gesture
By Meher Dadabhoy
The deaf have very special educational needs which include specific communication methods and teaching techniques. Yet sign language users remain one of the most disenfranchised citizens with limited access to education.

Conquering Solitude
By Deepti Samant
Designed properly, innovations in information and communication technology can assist and empower persons with disabilities. Why do these innovations remain inaccessible, asks Deepti Samant, emphasing that there couldn't be a better time to strongly advocate the use of the potential leveller .

EmployABILITY
By Jayshree Raveendran
Most people are, by and large, aware of the problems faced by disabled persons, but how many are aware of their potentials.

Deschooled
By Lillian D'Costa
Why are 90 percent of children with disabilities (CWDs) out of school? Why are education budgets falling when education is a fundamental right? Inclusive education holds the key to ensuring successful education of the over 10 million CWDs in the country.

Desexualising Her
By Kuhu Das
Disabled women are not asexual but disability has an impact on their sexual identity, confidence, sexual desire and ability to find a partner. Social attitude towards them must change and their sexual identity be recognised and validated.

Marginalised Twice
By Jeeja Ghosh
Women with disabilities have been largely ignored by social movements. Social restrictions generated by negative attitudes have aggravated the oppression they face by virtue of both sexism and 'disablism'.

Discrimination Continues
By Jose MV & Dr Manimozhi
Though ceaseless efforts are on to restore the dignity and the rights of the persons affected by leprosy, work on leprosy remains a priority.

Fighting Collectively
By Pavan Kumar and Anu
The international disability community has raised the issue as a matter of human rights for more than two and a half decades, but not all persons with disabilities view discrimination and abuse in terms of international human rights instruments. For some of them, discrimination and abuse are normal, everyday occurrences.

Building Solidarity
By Muthamma Devaya
The Disability Rights Initiative (DRI) of the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) reaches out to the disabled community to face and confront discrimination at all levels.

Driven By Passion
By George Abraham
Sport and art play an important role in creating passion in life. The use of these unique tools for rehabilitation and recreation for the disabled can bring new ray of hope in many lives.

Indomitable Bauby, Nay Butterfly
By Aanchal Khurana
Virtually trapped in his own body in the wake of his brain stem turning inactive, a French writer comes out with his best through batting his eyelids. The result was a wonderful book that later became an award winning movie. Aanchal Khurana reviews the film.

Deconstructing Judgments
By Suresh Nautiyal
A recent book by Andrew Goodmen delves deep into how judges write their judgements, examing style, language, legal nuances and various intricacies.

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