ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi expressed his displeasure with a government agency last week for stopping a blind person from appearing in an exam to secure an employment opportunity, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency said in a recent report.
The candidate, Suleman Arshad, was stopped from taking the exam for a job at Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) since the invigilator thought it would be difficult for him to perform the specified duties.
Alvi described the ANF decision as “an act of maladministration” after Arshad appealed the decision.
“We need to make special effort for differently abled people to make them part of our society and enable them to earn their livelihood,” the APP quoted him as saying. “Through such acts [of denial of opportunity], we will make them a social burden on the nation. Have a heart!“
The president also asked the federal ombudsperson to look into the matter on merit again and make a decision within 30 days.
Alvi said he had presented presidential awards to blind people for displaying exceptional performance in their chosen fields of interest.
He specifically mentioned Yousaf Saleem, who became the country’s first blind judge in 2018, and his sister, Saima Saleem, a blind Pakistani diplomat, who made headlines by addressing a UN General Assembly session in September 2021.
“All cameras were on her as she sat behind the Pakistan nameplate and read her address written in Braille,” the president recalled.
He added there were food outlets in Karachi and Islamabad which were fully operated by people suffering from visual impairments.
The president said the ANF’s act was in total disregard to human rights, adding that Pakistan was signatory to several international charters and treaties that prohibited any discrimination on the basis of gender or disabilities.
