Pakistani disability rights activist Tanzila Khan is happy to be in the UAE

Gulf Today Report

Those who are not physically impaired should realise how fortunate they are.

They should try to understand the difficulties, the challenges that people with physical disabilities suffer. The normal persons should see those who are differently-abled feel resigned to their fate. While some with disabilities mope, others try to overcome their impediment with sheer willpower and resilience, that nothing can cow them down in the face of adversity. Pakistani disability rights activist Tanzila Khan is one such brave woman.

She knows that a billion people in the world suffer from physical disabilities. But that doesn’t deter her from raising awareness on the subject, which she did while visiting the UAE, a country she loves a lot.

In fact, she is very happy to be visiting the Emirates, particularly Dubai.

The city is part of her world tour and her efforts to defy her differently-abled condition.

She is using her visit to the UAE to spotlight awareness on disability issues. She wants to dispel myths surrounding people of determination, saying they are quite able and talented. She is keen that the masses be more accommodating, integrating them into the community, giving them support and encouragement instead of isolating them.

In an interview with the Emirates News Agency (WAM), during her participation in the Skift Global Forum East, Khan has called on those concerned to provide the necessary services for people with disabilities.

She does not sit and rue her predicament, or keep complaining about it. She keeps herself busy to keep her mind off her condition. She is very fond of travelling to Dubai, Mumbai, Cairo and other cities around the world. She has launched a firm called Iwish, which specialises in offering training and finding sustainable solutions. She also created the first podcast series in Pakistan, titled, “Brain Masala,” and produced, interestingly, the first comedy short film on disability in her country.

She is also a writer and motivational speaker and the founder of “Girlythings PK,” which is an app that offers advice to women with disabilities.

She wants people to know more about reproductive and educational health and how to access them, especially for people with disabilities.

Perseverance, after all, is the key to success, according to Khan. Those are not differently-abled should take note of this.