Disability Pride and Radical Belonging

Disability pride isn’t just a celebration - it’s resistance, remembrance, and revolution.

Across the world, from Delhi's streets in the 1980s-1990s, where disability activism gained momentum, to Seoul's public transport battles, disabled people have consistently organized for their rights. 

Every protest, every law changed, every moment of quiet solidarity between disabled friends - these are the threads that have woven the tapestry of India’s disability and pride community today. Pride for us is asserting our right to exist, to be seen without exclusion, to not be looked down as vulnerable. We should never have been put in the closet to have to come out of it. We have always been here, and we will always be here. 

Living with chronic pain, navigating neurodivergence, or managing mental health, alongside surviving the oppression of our multiple identities often means existing in a space where your reality is questioned daily, whilst also feeling the pressure to be “good enough” to get a fighting chance alongside able-bodied folks. 

Constantly carrying the weight of explanation and proof, whilst we are fighting for safety and basic dignity is beyond exhausting.

Yet in these intersections, we learn to recognize each other's unspoken needs. We understand the pause before answering "How are you?" We know the relief of spaces where rest isn't a weakness, where we can safely unmask and access isn't an afterthought. These moments of recognition and acceptance leave us feeling like we belong, and we matter too.

Stories of Resistance

• Baba Amte: Baba Amte revolutionized how we think about disability and work. At Anandwan, he proved that when disabled people are given dignity, resources, and agency, they create thriving, self-sustaining communities. People with leprosy, who had been cast out by society, became skilled craftspeople, farmers, and healers, generating their own income and challenging every assumption about disability.

• Javed Abidi: Javed Abidi spent decades fighting for legislative change through NCPEDP. His strategic approach combined grassroots organizing with policy advocacy, culminating in the Person with Disabilities Act of 1995. He understood that legal frameworks alone weren't enough—you needed to shift cultural attitudes simultaneously.

• SK Rungta: SK Rungta and the National Federation of the Blind organized massive demonstrations that forced government officials to listen. In 1993, the Supreme Court allowed blind and partially-blind candidates to write the civil examination in Braille-script or with the help of a Scribe, all thanks to Rungta’s petition and advocacy.

• Kyung Seok Park: Kyung Seok Park, was 22 when he lost his mobility due to a hang-gliding accident. Appalled at the lack of accessible transport for disabled individuals,  he became an activist, spending 40 years campaigning to normalise disabled bodies claiming space, demanding that public transportation, buildings, and streets be accessible to all.

• Dr Malvika Iyer: When Dr Malvika Iyer was just 13, she picked up what she thought was a toy—and lost her hands and part of her legs. She spent 18 months in hospitals, relearning to walk, and writing exams with a scribe. She went on to earn a PhD and represent Indian disability rights globally at the UN. Her work reframed disability as a critical political identity. She played a role in normalising inclusive fashion, as well as calling for accessibility.

• Nirmala Kewlani: Every inaccessible bus in Mumbai was a message: you don’t belong here. Nirmala Kewlani didn’t ask for reform. She dragged the city’s transit system to court, winning and forcing accessible buses into public policy.  30 buses for disabled folks were brought to Mumbai streets. Her case reshaped legal accessibility and demonstrated what determined grassroots advocacy could achieve.

This movement breathes because of countless voices: disabled folks, DBA folks, queer folks, marginalised folks and all the beautiful intersections between. The work of Baba Amte, Javed Abidi, SK Rungta, Dr Malvika Iyer, Nirmala Kewlani, and countless others builds the foundations of human rights and gender care and advocacy. But their stories rarely get featured in our textbooks or talked about in political circles. 

Every legal victory is matched by lived belonging and calls for communal care. The future is being written by all who document, organize, and dream toward justice, access, and joy. We are not building this movement from nothing. We are continuing a conversation that began long before us and will continue long after. 

Nobody should have to fight for safety, dignity and the right to belong.