The Persistent Reformer – Diethono Nakhro

This film features Diethono Nakhro, former State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities in Nagaland, and a wheelchair user herself. She shares how, during her term, she toured districts, engaged with officials, challenged assumptions, built understanding of and spread awareness about disability.
Diethono makes it clear, technical directives mean little if they fail to account for terrain, languages, or local realities. Hers is a story of breaking stigma not from the outside, but from a voice inside the system.
*
For very long time, awareness uh was very, very poor among the… you know general public as a whole, government uh sector, the private sector, even among the uhh disabled community themselves also, you know.

So… uhh disability awareness is uhh something that we have taken up uh very strongly.

As a disability commissioner, as disability commissioner of the state also, that has been one of my uh priority, uhh one of the priority programs that I carried out all across the state.

And all of us in the disability sector, you know, the disability forum and the various NGOs in the disability sector, that is one thing we are continuously doing.

Because without awareness, even uhh the… the people who are supposed to implement the.. uhh various provisions of the RPWD Act, I keep on saying if we do not have proper awareness and sensitisation of why something is needed, you know, then there is no point, you know, going and issuing directives and orders.

So because of the lack of awareness, so it can be, uh you know, accessibility in the built environment maybe, accessibility in communication, transportation and the like, and inclusive education,
all those we have a lot of work yet to do.

But the good thing, the progress that we have made in this past few years is that, uh you know, because of the awareness improving, now a lot of work is going on, activity is happening.

Uhh various authorities, be it the.. uh government officials or, you know, society as a whole, the broader society as a whole, action is being taken, work is being done and we are seeing improvement in this area.

So that is a good thing.
*
Could you tell us about some of the initiatives that you took up for disability awareness during your tenure and the challenges you faced?

In Nagaland, like most uh states in the Northeast, umm is very small state, but the terrain is very difficult, you know.

Reaching out into uh to- the… nook and corner of the state is very difficult and to the villages and to the uh far off uhh districts.

That is one problem, communication, road, now it has improved

The road connectivity is also improving all over the state.

So that is a good thing.

Uhh but uh, you know, going into the inner districts has been one uh big problem.

And I must say that this is also one thing that most people do not understand about uh, uhh you know, states like Nagaland, you know.

In the Northeast, the difficult, the different geog-geographical realities that we have, you know, in small states uh like ours, you know.

So there in the centre maybe, and even uh the disability community in the rest of the country, they may be thinking about, okay, this is what we have to do, these are the things that we have to do.

But it becomes impossible for us to implement in a-a state like ours, you know, because the geographical, as I said, the realities are so different, the terrain is so difficult.

And uh, you know, for example uhh, you know, the building of ramps, for example, just one instance we can take.

We have all these harmonised guidelines, you know, which are laying down all the uh specifications, you know, for uhh the gradients and things like that.

So now in a place like Nagaland, where uhh we have very little uhh, you kn-, limited land area, then we have all uhh very difficult terrain.

So how do we build long ramps, you know, with that kind of uhh sloping gradient that is uhh- uhh, you know, required under the harmonised guidelines.

So this is one thing that I have been uh telling the centre also as uh disability commissioner, when we go for our meetings.

I have uhh highlighted this, that we do need uhh- uhh maybe alternative uhh- uh solutions, you know, where ramps are difficult to build.

Or some other separate guidelines for states like ours, you know, where uh, because they put down some criteria, unless you do this, you know, then uhh- uh- uh, you know, this is not correct, you know, they have those kind of specifications.

But for us, it is so difficult to, you know, follow those uh specifications.

So those kinds of problems are there.

So.. communication, as.. I said, going from uhh just now, I’m sitting here in Kohima, that is the capital town of the state, so Kohima, Dimapur, all those are easily accessible.

Going to the inner districts, as we go further and further from the uhh capital town, it becomes more and more difficult.

So we are continuing even now, and though uhh I am now out of the office, I have finished my term, uhh so… very recently.

So.. uh, but I will be continuing the work.

And uh we did, during my term, we did uhh d- district tours to all the districts, uh to talk to the… uh district officials, the officers there, to uh sensitise them on the work that they must do at the district level.

Then we talked to families, we talked to people with disabilities themselves, because the awareness is poor, as I said.

So we have done a lot of that.

And uhh I will be continuing with my work as… uhh.
*
What is the language landscape like in Nagaland?

In Nagaland, um uh we Nagas, we do not have a common Naga language.

So.. uhh English is our official language.

And each tribe, uhh you know, there are 14 uhh major tribes and a lot of other umm sub-tribes, you know, and everybody, you know, even in one district itself, you know.

I’m from the Kohima district, so Angami is, we are the Angami tribe.

But then even again, among the Angami tribes, you know, we have uhh… different, uh you know uh, languages.

It’s not, there’s not one, there is a common Angami language, but all vill- different li- villages speak different languages.

So it’s the same with the other tribes also.

So we do not understand each other also.

Even am- among the Angami, uh e- among the Nagas.

So, uhh yeah, uh w- for the educated uhh uh class, there is uhh English, but it’s not that everybody has had formal education also.

So English also, in some quarters, it be- becomes difficult.

Then we have one uh Creole language that is called uhh uh Nagamese that is uh kind of a mixture of uhh Assamese and Naga and even uh Naga languages and even uhh Hindi also for that matter.

It’s all a combination of everything.

So that becomes like a common language that we, you know, uh speak among ourselves.
*
What led you to disability activism?

I’m a wheelchair user umm, but I was not born with my disability.

So.. I became disabled later in life, only in 2006 actually, I met with a car accident and injured my spinal cord.

And that’s how, uhh uh you know, I became disabled and uh started using a wheelchair.

At that time to talk about myself, i- it was very difficult, obviously.

From uhh being an active uhh individual running here and there, being independent, doing your own thing, suddenly you find yourself lying in bed, unable to do anything for yourself.

I was paralysed from my neck down and quadriplegic.

So from my neck down in the beginning, it was -s uh bad and the prognosis also was not good.

So.. uh it was a difficult time, tough time, uh wondering what was going to happen to me, angry with myself, angry with everyone around me, you know.

But then uhh uh somehow I- I uh did my re- rehabilitation in uhh Delhi.

So for nearly a year, I was uhh away from home undergoing all these uhh, first of all, some treatment and then uh the rehabilitation process and things like that.

So by the time I reached home uhh, I had accepted my uh situation.

Eh, it’s a- it was difficult, but I said, ok, fine, there’s no- no point crying over spilt milk, so to speak, you know th-, you know you move on from there.

So actually it would sound strange, but by the time I reached home, I was uhh uh kind of excited even, you know, to start this new chapter, I would- uh to begin another phase of my life, you know.

So I had a lot of plans in my mind and uhh thinking about what I would do next.

How can I carry on, you know, with my career?

I was in the newspaper at that time, I was the assistant editor of a regional newspaper when I met with my accident.

So I was, uh you know, I- I had a lot of plans on my- in my mind, you know, thinking about how can I continue with my work?

How can I continue with my life, start this new chapter?

You know, but- but when I reached home, I came face to face with all the negative attitudes about disability, you know, all the prejudice that is there about disability, you know, which I had never myself thought about, you know, and I found myself so disgracefully unaware about disability and disability issues.

Now, I absolutely had no idea, no good knowledge at all about uh disability issues, disability rights, you know, then.

But the way, you know, everybody started talking to me about uhh, you know, whenever they meet me, they come to visit me and all, you know, everybody was behaving as if my life was over, you know.

Okay, you’re now a disabled person, you can’t walk like, you know, move like before.

So now, it’s like as if my life was over and then that really got me angry, you know, why is everybody talking to me like this?

I’m not dead and why are they, you know, uh talking to me or treating me like as if I have no life anymore, you know.

Then that was… a somehow that kind of umm pushed me to find out more about disability, to educate myself on l-, you know, disability, disability issues, disability rights in the country.

First of all, I started connecting with people here, and that’s how I got into, then, you know, that’s how I uhh, th- this is wrong, you know.

Where are, uhh uh what is happening to children with disabilities, are they able to get an education or not, are disabled people uhh, you know, able to uhh engage in income generating uh livelihood activities and earn an income, able to live an independent life?

What is happening to them, what kind of life are they living?

You know, all those kind of things.

It- you know, I started uhh studying all these things and finding out more and then I realised that I have a voice.

I can speak up and say something about these things, advocate, you know, for disability rights. And that’s how I got into, uhh you know, using my voice to push for change, you know, I mean- in- in our society.
*
What areas do you think, in the disability space, need more focus?

So uhh, see, this intersection uhh of uhh, you know, race, caste and disability, I think this uh conversation, we really need to start talking about this in the country.

I have been thinking about this uhhh umm a lot. I find that there is a dearth of uh studies also done on uhh the scheduled tribe, the scheduled caste in the uh country, you know.

And so, as like we talk about gender and.. the intersection of gender and disability, women with disabilities, as we know, the- uhh the.. kind of multiple discrimination or prejudice that we face.

So in the same way, race and caste and disability, you know, this is, I think, something very important that uhh- uhh we in the disabled community also, we need to uh start talking about this, have more conversations, do more studies to see.

Because, you know, it exists.

Whether we want to talk about or not this race and caste, you know, in our country, it is there.

And there are those uhh- umm underlying umm issues to do with uhh- uhh race and caste.

And then when we put uhh, you know, combine disability with uhh all those issues, then there i- there is so much uhh, the- the barriers and the discrimination, the exclusion that disabled people face generally.

So… when we put all these.. uhh issues together, then there is so much more that needs to be done in this area.

The Nagas are fully a tribal society.

So we are fully is- uhh- uh- uh-the- uh scheduled tribes.

So whether you are disabled or non-disabled, we interact with one another as tribal people only.

It’s in our uhh interaction with other people, you know, outside of our community, that is when the problem comes in.

Because uhh I cannot speak for the scheduled caste, because I am not uh- a scheduled caste, I am a scheduled tribe, that is the indigenous tribes of India.

So.. and then we have the Adivasis in the.. uhh uh, I think mostly concentrated in central India.

You see, th- there are a lot of issues that they have.

And then we have these uhh atrocities uhh against uhh scheduled tribes and the act of, uhh uh regarding atrocities against uh scheduled tribes and scheduled caste.

But, even there, it is silent about the- uh- uh- th- uh- uh disabled people in these communities.

So we need to have, so there is…, there are issues concerning uhh umm these uhh communities, SCST.

And but then the disability aspect of, you know, pe- people in these communities with disabilities, that is not being talked about at all.

That is not considered at all.

So even in the legislation, they are not part of it, you know.

So these are things that needs to be considered.
*
How did your perspective on disability and leadership change when you took on the role of Disability Commissioner?

Till very recently, I was the.. State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities in Nagaland.

And uhh with uhh, you kn-, serving as the Disability Commissioner, there is something that uhh I have become more certain about, you know, and that is.. uh the importance of having disabled persons, disabled people in uhh these positions, you know, as uhh Disability Commissioners in the States and uhh- uh Chief Commissioner also at the Centre.

When I took office as Disability Commissioner, I carried uhh all the you know, the- the realities of uh inaccessibilities uh in a public spaces.

So whether it was.. in uhh advocating for uhh accessible infrastructure or uh pushing for better implementation of the provisions of the Disability Act, the various policies or challenging the negative attitudes uh that are rampant with regard to disability.

I was speaking not only in a position of authority, but as a person who struggles with uhh, you know, faces all these struggles on a daily basis.

So I remember in the beginning, it was.. umm uh, it was uh very difficult even f-, you know, for me to even carry out basic official duties because of inaccessible spaces.

And there were the uhh, in times, you know, the numerous times when officials looked at accessibility only as an accessory, not as something that is essential.

You know, so I could push for changes with conviction because I, as a disabled person, as a wheelchair uhh user, face this umm inaccessible, these barriers on a daily basis.

So.. the impact of uhh lived experiences is immense and therefore it is so important and it is not only important but essential to have disabled people in these uhh- uh positions, in these leadership roles.