Ignored by govt, deaf association gathers for protest again
The promises made to them at the previous protest on Aug 25 had proved hollow, forcing deaf people from all over Maharashtra to gather for a protest once again
MUMBAI: Azad Maidan is the site of innumerable protests, but one protest on Tuesday was very unlike the others. There were no chants, slogans or speeches here. Instead, the 5,000-odd participants raised their hands in the air and shimmied them: the deaf person’s way of clapping.
Mumbai, India – Oct 10, 2023: State Level Association of the Deaf-SLAD Organises Peace Morcha at Azad Maidan, to get their basic rights from the Maharashtra Government, in continuation of their 25th August 2023 protest, in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, Oct 10, 2023. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)
This was the second protest held by the State-Led Association for the Deaf (SLAD) in the past two months. The promises made to them at the previous one on August 25 had proved hollow, forcing deaf people from all over Maharashtra to gather for a protest once again.
SLAD’s demands are many but basic. “Our first demand is that education in deaf schools in Maharashtra is done in Indian Sign Language (ISL),” said Manoj Patwari, the chairman of SLAD, with the help of interpreter Taslim Shaikh. “Currently deaf students are taught oralism, that is speaking verbally and lip reading, in order to integrate them with the hearing population. Even teachers at deaf schools don’t know sign language.”
This, Patwari explained, led to a substandard education for deaf students, leaving them unable to read or write well. One Class 7 student at the protest, Shriram Salgaonkar from Parbhani, said that he attended a regular hearing school even though he understood little there. Going to a deaf school would make little difference and only put him at a disadvantage due to its specialised curriculum. Shriram’s education takes place at home after school through a private deaf tutor.
Shreyas Patil, a Class 11 student from Kolhapur, went to a deaf school but still did not learn ISL there, learning instead of his own volition from the Deaf Enabled Foundation and mobile apps online.
Patwari revealed that teachers tended to allow the students to cheat in their Class 10 and 12 exams to get them to pass. This leads to SLAD’s next demand, which is the removal of written exams as a requirement for government jobs. With such little provision for higher education—let alone quality education—for deaf students, the written exams eliminate them from the job force. An interview should suffice, said Patwari.
This was the case with many of the protesters like Akshay Dere, who, despite having a BA in English, was unsuccessful in finding a job and thus worked as a farmer in Satara. Pradip More, the general secretary of SLAD, said he had done several certificate courses and appeared for many exams for a government job, but was unable to pass. He now works as a sign language teacher.
Another of SLAD’s demands is for interpreters at government offices like Mantralaya, police stations, courts and hospitals as well as an interpreter helpline to be able to communicate in cases of emergency. Yet another demand was the replacement of male wardens with female ones at deaf boarding schools, from where there have been many reports of sexual harassment. These few demands have been more or less the same since 2014, with little improvement in the condition of the deaf community.
Shriram’s mother, Deepali Salgaonkar, had a lonely life till she met other deaf people in her adulthood and learnt ISL. “I’ve suffered a lot, and I don’t want the next generation of deaf people to suffer similarly,” she said.
After a full day of protesting, at around 9 pm, the protestors were called in for a meeting with the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde - a promise made to them two months ago at their previous protest, to be fulfilled within seven days by Sumant Bhange, secretary of the social justice and special assistance department.
The meeting went positively, said Manoj. “The Chief Minister agreed to all our demands and has instructed Abhay Mahajan, the secretary of the Disability Development Department, to implement them.”
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