The video shows people flouting lockdown order issued by Government, pretending to be persons with disabilities when they hear police siren
‘All in one HD’, a TikTok channel has taken its comedy too far. An appalling video poking fun at people with disabilities has as many as 809,000 likes proving once again the level of insensitivity always targeted towards this group.
The video shows people flouting the lockdown order issued by the Government and pretending to be persons with disabilities when they hear the police siren. Not just that, it shows people coming prepared with white canes etc to be able to carry out this pre-planned charade.
The disability sector across the country has come forward to unanimously condemn the video, calling for strict action against the company and also the people that have acted in the said video. The Disability Rights Advocacy Group has filed an FIR online while the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), the country’s apex body for disability rights issues is mulling legal action.
The COVID-19 lockdown has hit disabled people the hardest. They have minimal access to ration, medicine and medical treatment.
It is also a fact that people with disabilities are least likely to flout a Government order, the least likely to be wandering down streets and the most likely to support the call from the Government at times like this, given their enhanced vulnerabilities.
“As a responsible platform, TikTok must take this video down, as it chooses to mock, ridicule and deride India’s disabled citizens. It is even more unfortunate, that this crass video has been appreciated by as many as eight lakh plus people,” states, Arman Ali, Executive Director, NCPEDP.
“We the people with disabilities of this country, are horrified and appalled at this grossly insensitive and crass video that is doing the rounds and reaching millions of people. Using sadistic and twisted humour and invoking the misuse of one’s disability is not just cruel and inhuman but also extremely violative of our rights as citizens of this country, We urge the country and international authorities responsible for detecting cybercrime, to take serious note of this offensive video and implement the RPwD Act at the earliest so that social media forums are also made aware that they cannot allow such content to be circulated”, added Ali.