Srinagar: Scores of people with hearing and speech impairment staged protest here on Saturday.
The protest was held on the occasion of International Day of Sign Languages, in which scores of people with hearing and speech impairment participated.
While expressing themselves through an interpreter, the aggrieved stated that their main demand is making interpreters available at various government and non-government departments to make their lives easy.
The aggrieved assembled at the Press Colony under the banner of the Association of Deaf and Dumb.
Arwa Imtiyaz, who is associated with the organisation and was interpreting on behalf of the aggrieved, said that the main demand of these aggrieved is to ensure every department has an interpreter for deaf and dumb people.
“They are having an issue while carrying out their routine work. Be it hospitals or other government departments, there is no interpreter assigned by the government, which is taking a toll on them. Multiple members of my family are deaf and dumb, and I can understand what these people go through on a daily basis,” Arwa said.
They expressed the importance of having interpreters in public places and other non-government departments so that they can express themselves and avail various day-to-day facilities.
“These people are without voice, and if there will be an interpreter at every important place, they will not be dependent on others. These people are unable to carry out our normal tasks on a daily basis, which can be easily done if interpreters are available. They have to carry others along to interpret, and every individual cannot do that. We appeal to the government that on this important day, it should be ensured that interpreters are available at important places for these people,” Arwa said.
These aggrieved also expressed that special schools and other institutes should be opened across the valley where people are trained about sign language and this communication gap is bridged.