Speaking Letters – Express Urdu

It is the right of every Pakistani to be enlightened by the light of knowledge, but unfortunately the blind people are also deprived of basic facilities like education.

According to unofficial data, the number of blind people in Pakistan is more than two million, but there are no textbooks for them in script like Braille, in which every pattern on the paper has some meaning for the blind people. And they can read it by touching it with their fingers and the very few Braille books that exist are so expensive that the common man cannot afford them.

In a school for blind children in Pakistan, only one teacher has a Braille book while the children are forced to make notes in Braille after listening to the teacher. Children need sharp pens to make notes, which can seriously injure children’s hands.

According to the British Council, ninety percent of blind people in Pakistan do not complete their education, which is mainly due to the lack of Braille books. For this reason, instead of being economically independent, blind people become a burden on others. Sensing the same need of the blind, Sheikh Umar Farooq, a citizen of Karachi, has developed a unique software that not only solved the problem of braille books, but also ensured that the blind have access to science and technology. Don’t be left behind in the field. This talented young man displayed this software in an exhibition at Lahore Expo Center.

The purpose of creating the software called Bate Haruf is to facilitate and ensure the provision of Braille books to the blind and to provide Braille books at a lower cost than existing Braille books. A unique feature of these Braille books is that they are equally beneficial for both the sighted and the blind i.e. Braille printed Braille books include subjects in Braille as well as in written writing, due to which Books can be easily read by the blind as well as the sighted. In this way, teachers of the blind, parents and siblings can help the blind to read without learning Braille.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Sheikh Umar Farooq said that he met a 40-year-old blind man who did not even know that a dog has four legs, so we included pictures of animals in our Braille books. are He further said that religious sciences were also transferred to Braille through his special technology and he printed the Holy Quran as well as the Noorani Qaida. The need to create a Noorani Qaida was felt because most of the blind Hafiz did not know the difference between za and za.

Sheikh Umar Farooq said that his company has also created the necessary documents related to the bank in collaboration with various banks, as now when a blind person goes to open his account, he will also get the documents in Braille. Which will be beneficial that the blind people will be aware of the terms and conditions of the bank. He said that like sighted people, blind people also have the right to know what documents they are signing and what conditions they are signing. He said that now his next target is to make property documents in Braille. According to Umar Farooq, there are three to four special children in each class in normal schools around the world, the aim of which is that these children with different abilities grow up in a normal environment in a normal school and these children feel normal. The braille books made by us will make it easier for the government of Pakistan to promote the mission of inclusive education because with the books of ‘talking letters’ even teachers who do not know braille will be able to teach blind children.

These two million blind people can become useful citizens of the country if special attention is paid to their education and this is the mission of the speaking letters that we have to enlighten two million blind people of the country not only with the light of knowledge but also economically. But it should also be made independent so that these two million people contribute to the country’s development instead of becoming a burden on the country.

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