‘Satyamev Jayate’: Aamir Khan says treat the disabled as equals

Zeenews Bureau

Mumbai: The sixth episode of Aamir Khan’s ‘Satyamev Jayate’ dealt with the disabled section of the Indian society. The host, who has succeeded in striking an emotional chord with the masses, spoke about how people generally treat their disabled countrymen. Citing a number of inspirational messages through videos of disabled people, the episode discussed the rights to education for all, irrespective of physical ability. However, the Indian society is seldom open to accepting people with physical or mental disability in the mainstream section. Most parents do not appreciate having disabled children in regular schools as they fear it might cast a negative impact on their children and hence institutions refrain from admitting disabled kids. And this indifferent attitude of people has been projected in the episode of the show. The show played host to blind and lame men who narrated their inspiring stories and proved that they too could fall within the bracket of the fittest and survive with pride. The audiences also stood witnesses to a noble initiate called ‘Amar Jyoti’, a school that welcomes all kinds of children and treats them as equals. And equal treatment would only begin when the government takes appropriate measures to treat them as one among the many from the mainstream section of the society. With over 6 crore people with disability in the Indian society, the need of the hour is to have disabled friendly infrastructure that will enable such people to have trouble free access to public places and vehicles. The show also urged companies to hire men and women with disability so that they too could contribute to the Indian economy. Captain Brar, a resident of Ahmedabad has set an example by setting up a company with over 270 disabled people employed. And according to him his company is doing exceptionally well because of their efforts and hard work. At the end, Aamir spoke about the need to have inclusive educational institutions with quality teaching staff and infrastructure in place that will allow disabled children too to be a part of regular schools and have a normal upbringing.