ISLAMABAD: On a scorching afternoon earlier this month in Islamabad, food delivery rider Hamza Ali pulled his motorbike beneath the shade of a tree after collecting an order from a restaurant. He opened the insulated delivery bag strapped behind him, took out a bottle of water, splashed some across his face and drank quietly before heading off to the next customer.
At first glance, the scene appears routine in Pakistan’s growing gig economy, where thousands of riders weave through traffic every day delivering meals ordered through mobile apps. But a closer look reveals Ali’s modified motorbike, fitted with hand-operated controls because he lost both his legs in a road accident five years ago.
As millions of Pakistanis prepare to celebrate Eid Al-Adha with family gatherings and festive meals, Ali says his greatest hope this year is to return to Multan and spend the holiday with his mother. He spent the last Eid alone in Islamabad because he could not afford the journey home.
“I have kept it safely because I want to gift it to my mother on Eid,” he said with a smile, referring to a mobile phone he recently received after ranking among his company’s top delivery riders.
Pakistan has millions of people living with disabilities, many of whom face barriers to employment, transport and public infrastructure. The 2023 digital census found that 3.1 percent of the population reported living with a disability. Advocacy groups and international organizations say the real number is likely much higher. A Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund survey estimated disability prevalence at around 8 percent while some WHO-based estimates place it near 15 percent, or roughly 27–30 million people.
Rights advocates say people with disabilities in the country often struggle to access stable jobs because of social stigma, inaccessible workplaces and limited institutional support.
Pakistan’s Labour Force Survey says the unemployment rate among persons with disabilities is 14.5 percent, more than double the national unemployment rate.
“It’s very hard for a disabled person to find work,” said the 28-year-old rider.
“Whoever I approached for a job would say, ‘You are disabled, what can you do?’ Even if the job required sitting, they would still refuse.”
“PIN HOPES ON ALLAH”
Ali’s life changed abruptly five years ago when the bus he was traveling on from Lahore to his hometown of Multan collided with a truck on a motorway.
He lost both his legs in the accident.
“The first six months were very difficult for me, I had no help from anyone, friends or family,” he said.
“Then I told myself, ‘Ali, you will have to do something on your own.’”
After unsuccessfully searching for work in Multan for nearly three years, Ali decided to move to Islamabad in 2023 after a friend suggested the capital’s wide roads might make it easier for him to ride a modified motorbike.
Ali traveled alone to Islamabad, a city he had never visited before, to see whether he could navigate it independently on his customized bike.
After returning home, he invested his limited savings into modifying the motorcycle and relocated permanently to the capital.
“I rode straight to a Foodpanda support center in Islamabad’s F-8 sector to ask for work,” Ali said. He already had a Foodpanda rider profile from before the accident.
“I asked them to activate my ID,” he said. “They in return only asked me if I was sure that I was able to carry out the duties and I said I’m sure, I need this job. And that’s how I got the job.”
But finding employment solved only one of his struggles.
“I knew nobody in Islamabad,” Ali recalled.
“That night I roamed the streets of Islamabad till 1am because I had nowhere to go and I knew nobody in this city.”
At first he rented a bed for Rs300 ($1.08) near Rawalpindi railway station and used public washrooms at metro stations. After a few weeks, he moved into a hostel.
“At night when I would leave work, I used to have tears in my eyes,” Ali said.
“‘O Allah, you never leave anybody alone, then why am I alone?’ Nobody was there to even ask if I wanted to eat.”
Despite the hardships, Ali says he never wanted sympathy.
“I never say that I need money. I can earn a living on my own,” he said.
“But people just don’t stand with you because they think you are disabled, you are no good.”
Ali believes people with disabilities should be supported through employment and economic opportunity rather than pity.
Today, he continues delivering food across Islamabad independently while navigating challenges many Pakistanis with disabilities still face. But through the difficult years following the accident, Ali says his mother remained his greatest source of strength:
“She told me, ‘What had to happen has happened. Only pin your hopes on Allah, never attach hopes to any human.’”
