Disabled voters to boycott elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Disabled voters in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province would boycott the July 25 general elections as a protest against the provincial government's failure to provide them their basic rights, a Pakistani disability rights group said today.

'Friends and Paraplegic' president Syed Muhammad Ilyas, coordinator Mushtaq Hussain and others announced the boycott of the election at a press conference here.

They said Pakistan has millions of persons with disabilities and about 40,000 of them live in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, but the provincial government denied them their basic rights.

They said that the disabled should be given their rights according to a charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of Pakistan.

They demanded special seats in assemblies and resolution of their basic issues of health and education, among others.