Shafiq ur Rehman Helped Ignite Pakistan’s Independent Living Movement

On 4 December 2023, Muhammad Shafiq ur Rehman entered the Japanese ambassador’s residence in Islamabad to receive one of the most important recognitions of his career. Japan’s government presented the Pakistani disability rights activist with its Foreign Minister’s Commendation for strengthening relations between Pakistan and Japan. By then, Mr. Shafiq had spent three decades promoting Independent Living, personal assistance, accessible mobility and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities. As president of the Milestone Society for the Special Persons, he had helped turn a teenage movement into an organization supporting thousands of Pakistanis. He had also built lasting partnerships with Japanese disability leaders, introduced wheelchair technology and helped establish disability led initiatives across Pakistan.

The achievement was remarkable for someone society had once expected to remain dependent. Muhammad Shafiq ur Rehman contracted polio in 1977 when he was only six months old. His mother carried him in heavy braces while searching for hospitals, physiotherapists and reliable guidance. Relatives and neighbours sometimes treated his disability as a punishment or family tragedy. Mr. Shafiq later recalled that he was seen as a patient rather than an ordinary child and spent his first eight school years in special education. The physical effects of polio shaped his mobility, but exclusion, inaccessible environments and low expectations created many of the barriers that followed.

As a teenager, Mr. Shafiq began challenging those expectations. In 1992 and 1993, he joined friends with disabilities, some only 14 to 16 years old, to organize for education, mobility, employment and participation. Their work became the Milestone Society for the Special Persons, established in Lahore in March 1993. Its origins mattered. Milestone was created by persons with disabilities who understood exclusion through their own experiences. They were not asking outsiders to feel sorry for them. They wanted accessible services, equal opportunities and the right to make decisions about their own lives.

A decisive transformation came in 2001, when Mr. Shafiq travelled to Japan for the Duskin Leadership Training program. At 24, he received his first lightweight wheelchair. Until then, painful braces and crutches had often left him crawling. The wheelchair was not a sign of confinement. It gave him the mobility and confidence to experience life differently. During nearly a year in Japan, he studied peer counselling, disability advocacy, wheelchair sports and the management of Independent Living centres. In his final Duskin report, he explained how the experience increased his confidence, strengthened his sense of responsibility and clarified his plan to introduce Independent Living in Pakistan.

Independent Living does not mean performing every physical task without help. It means controlling decisions about education, employment, relationships, housing and personal support. A wheelchair user may need assistance with bathing, dressing, transferring or travelling outside while remaining fully responsible for how that support is provided. After returning home, Mr. Shafiq helped transform Milestone from a traditional welfare organization into a centre focused on self determination. It developed personal attendant services, peer counselling, wheelchair skills and independent living training. These services gave persons with severe disabilities greater control while allowing relatives, especially women providing unpaid care, to continue their own education or employment.

Mobility technology became another important part of his mission. Through cooperation with Japanese organizations and the Sakura Wheelchair Project, used manual and electric wheelchairs were brought to Pakistan, repaired, customized and distributed. Local technicians received training in maintenance and fitting. This distinction is essential because a wheelchair must suit its user’s body, environment and daily routine. A poorly fitted chair can cause pain and health problems, while a suitable one can provide access to education, work and community life. Japanese support also contributed to a special education and self support training centre in Lahore, inaugurated in 2022 to improve independence and employment opportunities. Milestone also credits Mr. Shafiq with introducing wheelchair cricket in 2003, using sport to make wheelchair users more visible in public life.

His activism soon moved beyond individual services. After the 2005 earthquake, Milestone brought disability support and Independent Living training closer to affected communities. In 2017, Mr. Shafiq launched the “Humein Shumar Karein,” or “Count Us,” campaign after disability was excluded from Pakistan’s main census form. The campaign demanded reliable national data because governments cannot plan accessible transport, personal assistance, education, mobility devices or employment programs without knowing how many people require them. He has also argued that disability inclusion is an economic opportunity. Wheelchair production, trained attendants, accessible housing and communication services can create employment while allowing millions of people to participate in the economy.

Today, Milestone says it supports more than 5,000 people annually through Independent Living programs, assistive technology, inclusive education, personal assistance, disaster response, women’s leadership, accessibility audits and disability rights advocacy. Its public Facebook community has grown to around 10,000 followers, while its YouTube channel contains more than 160 documentaries, testimonies and podcasts. Mr. Shafiq now uses these platforms not only to discuss disability but also to give survivors of violence, people from neglected communities and emerging advocates space to tell their own stories.

Muhammad Shafiq ur Rehman’s contribution cannot be reduced to a story about overcoming polio. His real achievement is exposing the barriers society creates and demonstrating how they can be removed. A wheelchair is a means of movement, personal assistance is a tool for self direction, and Independent Living is the right to choose how one lives. Through Milestone, Mr. Shafiq has helped replace pity with rights, isolation with participation and decisions made for persons with disabilities with decisions made by them. His continuing professional journey can be followed through his official LinkedIn profile.