The government has been requested to guarantee that women with disabilities are represented in the National Parliament’s reserved seats by the National Council of Disabled Women (NCDW) and Protibondhi Nagorik Songghothoner Porishodh (PNSP). They made this declaration on Saturday, February 10, during a press conference held at the Jatiya Press Club’s Jahur Hossain Chowdhury Hall.
The Awami League is expected to get 48 of the 50 reserved seats in parliament, with the Jatiya Party receiving the remaining two. Three women with disabilities are among the 1,549 women fighting for the 48 seats up for grabs provided by the Awami League. In order to guarantee that individuals with disabilities’ rights and safeguards are taken into consideration, all three candidates have argued in favor of setting aside at least two seats expressly for them.
Speakers at the press conference said that disabled people have been demanding their representation from the state for a long time. The government takes various programs considering all the people of the country. Although many of these programs allow people with disabilities to participate, there is still room for improvement in decision-making.
They said that now is the time to prove our ability and desire for positive progress at the national, regional, and global levels by ensuring the representation of women with disabilities in Parliament.
Prominent Bangladeshi director, writer, and advocate for women’s rights Jannatul Ferdous Ivy is in favor of allocating a certain percentage of reserved seats to women with disabilities. She has submitted her form for the reserved seats. Ivy, a burn survivor who made the BBC’s 2023 list of the 100 most powerful and inspirational women in the world, contends that neither men nor even other women can truly understand the struggles that women with disabilities experience.
She is concerned why, with the necessary qualifications, there is a reluctance to include persons with impairments in parliament. She said,”If they look over our nomination forms, do we stand out from the other candidates in any way? In that case, we’ll accept it.”
She is determined to enter parliament to safeguard the rights of people from this vulnerable community and advocate for policy reforms. Ivy has finished her postgraduate studies and is exceptionally qualified in terms of her educational background, professional experience, and organizational management, despite her impairment.Another reserved seat candidate is Nasima Akhtar. As the head of the National Council of Disabled Women, Nasima is hoping to use her position in the legislature to advocate for the welfare and rights of the nation’s disabled population on a broader front.
When Nasima Akhtar had polio when she was two years old, she was forced to use a wheelchair. Since then, the native of Rangpur has devoted twenty-one years of her life to disability advocacy. After winning a seat in Rangpur’s Payaraband Union for two years as a reserved woman, Nasima is now aiming to represent the disabled population in the upcoming 12th National Parliament.
Another candidate Salma Mahbub, 56, wants to be granted a seat in parliament designated for women. She was left unable to move outside of a wheelchair when she was diagnosed with polio at the age of nine months.
Despite her obstacles, Salma’s main goal is to inspire more women to seek positions as public representatives by bringing attention to the importance of having representation for persons with disabilities in the legislature rather than only running for office under the Awami League banner.
Despite debates on a range of topics in parliament, Salma, the founding general secretary of the Bangladesh Society for the Change and Advocacy Nexus (B-SCAN), notes that individuals with disabilities frequently have their voices ignored, depriving them of their rights.
All the candidates expressed, that they believe that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, recognized as a global champion in women’s empowerment, will similarly focus on the representation of women with disabilities to make a more inclusive parliament system.
