ISLAMABAD, March 18: In what may have been, for Islamabad, unprecedented numbers, around 300 people with disabilities, many of them waving PTI flags, came to a local hotel to learn about Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI)'s policy for special persons.

Collaborating with different NGOs, the PTI had invited people with disabilities from across the country for the event. Many of the attendees claimed that in general, their needs had been ignored by political parties.

A man from Abbottabad, Mohammad Khaliq, told Dawn that the PTI was different.

“Imran Khan is a beacon of hope for disabled persons,” he said.

Salma Gulraiz, a visually-impaired woman from Lahore, came with her brother and an organisation that works with the disabled. “My organisation told me that the PTI is announcing incentives for people like us,” she said.

PTI organisers gave a detailed presentation on their party's policies for the physically disabled whom they claimed number 1.7 million in Pakistan.

Party chairman Imran Khan told his audience that “we will ensure true empowerment for you. We will deliver your rights as this government has not.”

Claiming that safeguarding citizens’ rights was a central tenet of Islam, Khan sharply criticised the government for failing to deliver those rights.

If elected, he said, the PTI “will give you many opportunities to play your vital role in society.”

A member of the audience, Nasir Dar, seemed convinced, saying that Khan was the first politician to seek input from people with disabilities before formulating a policy. “If he’s elected, he won’t ignore us,” he said.

The PTI's manifesto promises that the party will work to bring the disabled “into the mainstream” and offer “both moral and tangible support” to their families.

The party has claimed it will introduce legislation for the representation of the disabled in Parliament, and that it will form a national commission to bring disabled persons and their needs, including educational training, equipment, medical treatment, assistance and public transport, into the national policy conversation.

Rizwan Khan from Nowshera, who had come with a NGO, said if all Khan's proposals were implemented, “our lives will become much easier”.

The PTI has also announced an intention to make roads and public spaces more accessible; to introduce employment quotas and education scholarships; and to make targeted budget allocations at both the federal and provincial levels.

At the PTI’s public gathering on March 23, at Minar-i-Pakistan, Khan said there would be a space specifically allocated for the disabled.