Repost: Inclusiv’e Voices with Adv. Abhishek Kumar
Reposted from ‘Inclusiv’e Voices with Adv. Abhishek Kumar’ published dated 10th March 2024.
Meet Adv. Abhishek Kumar, a 28-year-old individual living with a visual disability from Ranchi, Jharkhand. He holds a B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) from the National Law University, Delhi, and is registered as an Advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi. Abhishek is an Environmental Lawyer, a Disability Advocate, and also the Ideator, Founder, and Curator of The Sangyan. His interests include Cricket, Politics, International Relations, Spirituality, and Trekking, among others.
Born in the land of Buddha and brought up across various places in Bihar and Jharkhand due to his father’s job, Abhishek completed his schooling in the respective states and pursued his college education in Gujarat and Delhi. He acquired his visual disability during his school years due to a rare condition leading to retinal detachment. As a result, he experiences almost no vision in his left eye and low vision in his right eye. “Thankfully, I acquired my disability during school vacations, so I didn’t have to skip my schooling either, apart from certain small medical sabbaticals,” he says.
He pursued his interests and hobbies after acquiring his disability, which helped him as a coping mechanism during the transition. His life goal is to perform his puruṣārthas, pay back his debts, search for the meaning and find the purpose of his life, and try to act as per his Svadharma.
Currently, Adv. Abhishek Kumar, as an NCPEDP-Javed Abidi Fellow on Disability, is researching the disproportionate impact of Climate Change on Persons with Disabilities. He has presented at various national and international forums, including the G20 India, UN India, UNICEF NYHQ, COSP15, CRC Ranchi, Rotary Bangalore Abilities, International Purple Fest, Goa — 2024, Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy, MAMTA-Health Institute for Mother and Child, Climate Justice-Just Transition Donor Collaborative (CJ-JT), OP Jindal Global University, World Disability Advocacy, Muskaan PAEPID, National Disability Network (NDN), and the National Committee on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (NCRPD), among others, to highlight the intersectionality of climate change and disability.
Abhishek is advocating for the National Mission on Climate Change and Vulnerable Communities under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (2008) and running a campaign, ‘Build Forward Better’, to achieve it while mainstreaming climate change within the disability sector and vice versa. In that respect, he has drafted the Representation Petition for the Formation of the National Mission on Climate Change and Vulnerable Communities. He has actively contributed to law and policymaking, specifically concerning the intersectionality of climate change and disability at the national and international levels.
He has also greatly contributed to the Climate Change section of the first-of-its-kind NCPEDP’s Manifesto for and by Citizens with Disabilities and has been an integral part of the Disability-Inclusive Climate Collaboration of India, which drafted ‘A Call for Disability-Inclusive Climate Action in India and Globally’ along with other major disability organizations.
Abhishek has co-curated ‘Charter of Demands: Call to Action for Disability Justice’, urging concerned public authorities and other relevant stakeholders to address the prominent issues faced by the disability community and take prompt and positive action. This includes incorporating pointers from the Charter of Demands into the vision documents of political parties and the actions of all concerned governments going forward.
He has authored ‘We need a disability-led climate action’ for UNICEF’s Voices for Youth and co-authored an article on ‘Climate Resilient and Accessible Architecture’ for the Harvard Law School Project on Disability.
Abhishek conducts an interview series, ‘Ulgualan Talks!’, to document the life journey and lived experiences of persons with disabilities and other vulnerabilities regarding the impacts of climate change and other planetary crises and concerns through His initiative, ‘The Sangyan,’ that focuses on Law, Environment, Disability, and their intersectionality.
He is empanelled as a research expert on climate change and disability on ‘The Global South Climate Database’ by Carbon Brief and Reuters Institute’s Oxford Climate Journalism Network.
Adv. Abhishek Kumar’s Understanding of Accessibility and Reasonable Accommodations
Abhishek defines accessibility as freedom. He elaborates that accessibility is an agency/medium that allows anyone to access and enjoy fundamental human rights and freedoms, such as education, speech and expression, healthcare, movement, employment, etc., necessary for living a meaningful life with inherent dignity and in pursuit of Puruṣārtha.
He further explains that reasonable accommodation is rooted in compassion, understanding, and trust, recognizing that every person is different, and so are their respective abilities and, consequently, their specific requirements to live a life with dignity with respect to one’s work, travel, and other dimensions of day-to-day life. From a legal standpoint, he describes reasonable accommodation as a principle that promotes equality, enables the grant of positive rights, and prevents discrimination based on disability, health condition, or personal belief.
Abhishek opines that acknowledging and understanding his invisible disability serves as the starting point of his reasonable accommodation requirement. “Certain extreme climatic and weather conditions, as well as pollution, negatively impact my eye condition, which affects my productivity during such phases. I am unable to efficiently work on my mobile and laptop (my primary mode of work), and thus, in such circumstances, I need a flexible work environment,” he adds.
He highlights the role of digital accessibility for individuals with visual disabilities, stating that it acts as the core to his accessibility needs and reasonable accommodation. He explains, “As I am a person with visual impairment [low vision], my mobile phone and laptop (especially their accessibility features like zooming, color contrast, and speaking screen) serve as basic assistive devices/assistive technology. Apart from that, during exams, the question papers need to be in large fonts as well as the lighting in the classrooms, libraries, and university campuses at large needs to be made accessible. I usually don’t need any caregiver.”
When talking about the perception of people towards his disability, Abhishek says, “Given the invisible nature of my disability, it’s often considered ‘not that serious’ with people taking things for granted and often overlooking my accessibility and reasonable accommodation requirements. For me personally, my disability is just part and parcel of my life and one aspect of my identity rather than the dominant factor dictating the whole approach towards life.”
Adv. Abhishek Kumar’s journey exemplifies an extraordinary fusion of passion, dedication, and advocacy. His unwavering commitment to amplifying the voices of vulnerable communities, particularly persons with disabilities, through data-driven and evidence-based research, advocacy, and innovative initiatives, has significantly impacted both national and international arenas. His commitment to the intersectionality of climate change and disability has sparked a revolutionary shift within the disability movement. His journey also offers a fresh perspective on effective advocacy strategies for youth with disabilities. As he continues to shape a more inclusive and sustainable future for all, his impact resonates far beyond his own pursuits of puruṣārthas, leaving a lasting legacy of empowerment and progress.
References
- Adv. Abhishek Kumar can be reached at thesangyan.in and linktr.ee/sangyan
- Inclusiv’e Voices with Adv. Abhishek Kumar https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/inclusive-voices-adv-abhishek-kumar-inclusiv-india-aestc/?trackingId=bcnQBFMySNewf%2B9JayPBag%3D%3D
- Representation Petition for the Formation of the National Mission on Climate Change and Vulnerable Communities https://www.thesangyan.in/representation-petition
- NCPEDP’s Manifesto for and by Citizens with Disabilities https://ncpedp.org/pdf/Manifesto-For-and-By-Citizens-with-Disabilities-WEB.pdf
- ‘A Call for Disability-Inclusive Climate Action in India and Globally’ https://www.thesangyan.in/united-in-action
- Charter of Demands: Call to Action for Disability Justice https://www.change.org/p/charter-of-demands-call-to-action-for-disability-justice?source_location=tag_
- ‘We need a disability-led climate action’ for UNICEF’s Voices for Youth https://www.voicesofyouth.org/blog/we-need-disability-led-climate-action#:~:text=The%20major%20finding%20of%20my,action%20that%20often%20overlooks%20their
- ‘Climate Resilient and Accessible Architecture’ for the Harvard Law School Project on Disability. https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2023/08/14/climate-resilient-and-accessible-architecture/
Content by
Adv. Abhishek Kumar, Founder and Curator, The Sangyan
Curated (coordinated, drafted, and edited) by
Ar. Kavya Poornima Balajepalli, Brand Ambassador, Inclusiv and Founder, Poornamidam and IIH Warriors India
