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Disability Rights Watch has demanded the resignation of the social welfare adviser, accusing her of “wasting time” by not holding discussions with protesters.
The organisation, advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities, said Social Welfare Adviser Sharmeen S Murshid had delayed discussions with disabled demonstrators and called her reasoning “ridiculous”, bdnews24.com reports.
The group urged the government to take immediate action to address the concerns raised by people with disabilities.
In a statement on Monday, DRW said they began a “peaceful” movement pressing for five demands, but the interim government repressed them through law-enforcing agencies.
“We, on behalf of Disability Rights Watch, urge the government to immediately accept the demands through dialogue instead of repression,” the statement said.
Disabled graduates have been protesting in Dhaka since Oct 19, pressing for five demands, including quotas in government jobs.
They have demanded a 2 percent independent quota in classes 1 and 2, and a 5 percent independent disability quota in classes 3 and 4.
Their other demands include special appointments through an executive order, revision of the existing national policy for scribes, special appointment of visually impaired people in the Physiotherapy and Health Technology (PHT) Center, and raising the employment age limit for the disabled to 35 years.
DRW said, “For the past few years, disabled people have been participating in the viva exams after passing the written exams for various government jobs, including the government primary assistant teacher recruitment.
“However, the government is refusing them the opportunity to join the job. As a result, they are protesting peacefully by showing their educational qualification certificates, copies of the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act 2013, and the Suborno Nagorik Card for persons with disabilities.
“We have noticed that the government has yet to take any initiative to engage in dialogue with the protesters.
“No one is being granted the chance to meet with [the social welfare adviser] regarding this matter.
“Instead, she continues to refer to different kinds of research as a way to deliberately delay addressing the concerns of persons with disabilities.
“This is a complete breach of human rights. We call for the immediate resignation of the adviser to the Ministry of Social Welfare.”
DRW has urged civil society members, poets, writers, and intellectuals to stand in solidarity with the movement of persons with disabilities “without remaining silent”.
The organisation also called on the government to promptly engage in dialogue with disabled citizens, accept their demands, and issue an official notification reflecting those commitments.