Ted Kennedy Jr, son of the late US Senator and champion of Bangladeshi freedom Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, on Tuesday said that societies across the world need to be more inclusive towards individuals with disabilities.

“There are billions of people with disabilities living around the world and the issue touches every family, whether it’s in America or in Bangladesh. People with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities in society as everyone else, and we need to work together to establish an inclusive society for all,” Kennedy said, at a seminar titled ‘Disability Inclusion: A Right, Not a Privilege’ at the EMK Center in Dhanmondi. 

It wasn't lost on anyone that the venue added something special to the occasion - the EMK Center takes its name from none other than the late Ted Kennedy, and was originally established on the Dhaka University campus where as a young senator in February 1972, he delivered his rousing "Brothers in Liberty" speech. 

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Marking the 10th anniversary of its operations in Bangladesh, EMK Center, in association with the US Embassy in Dhaka, organised the seminar on Tuesday, which was also joined by US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas.

Ted Kennedy Jr, who has spent the past 20 years advocating on a global scale for people with disabilities, emphasized the important role that the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act had in expanding those rights. He also urged local leaders of civil society to actively promote disability inclusion in Bangladesh.

Sharing his personal experience with disabilities, Kennedy Jr said, “I am a pediatric bone cancer survivor and I lost my right leg when I was 12 years old, and that instantaneously made me a member of the disability community. At that point, I thought my life was over as I had the same prejudices as other people about disabilities; but my experiences eventually made me a civil rights warrior.”

“Disability inclusion has been an issue for the Kennedy family for many, many years. My father’s sister, Rosemary (Rose Marie Kennedy, elder sister of the senior Ted Kennedy) was born with an intellectual disability. Having a sister with an intellectual disability had a profound impact on my father and the entire family.” 

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“My father was one of the leading figures supporting disability rights in the United States as well as John F Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, and when people ask me “Why does your family spend so much time talking about human rights?” I think the entire family was deeply motivated in advancing the rights of persons with disabilities from this very personal experience,” Kennedy Jr said.

He also talked about his aunt Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics for persons with physical and intellectual disabilities. “Many people told my aunt Eunice that it was a terrible idea because people with disabilities cannot exercise or perform sports activities, but thank God that she didn’t listen to the opposing experts and now Bangladesh is also a proud member of this global sporting festivity.”

It was a message that surely would have resonated with the spirit of his late father, who in a 47-year Senate career became known as the "Liberal Lion of the Senate."

Alongside Ted Kennedy Jr, whose uncle John was president of the United States of course, and his family, the event was also joined by Jaago Foundation founder and executive director Korvi Rakshand, EMK Center director Farjad Ahmed, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) vice-chancellor Professor Imran Rahman and several dignitaries in Bangladesh with special abilities.

Prior to the seminar, Ted Kennedy Jr inaugurated the exclusive US- Bangladesh Art Exhibition titled ‘50 Years of Friendship’ at the EMK Center, jointly curated by Bangladeshi art maestro Professor Rokeya Sultana and American artist-art educator Professor Karen Kunc.

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The exhibition features artworks of six eminent artists from Bangladesh and the United States: Professor Rokeya Sultana, Professor Karen Kunc, Andy Rubin, Mark E Ritchie, Mohammad Razwanur Rahman Bhuiyan, and Nagarbasi Barman.

The exhibition will continue at the EMK Center till November 15.