Film festival in one city in India cancelled due to inaccessible location

From the Times of India:

PANAJI, India -- Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG), which comprises of differently abled people, has claimed that the Tri Continental Film Festival 2009, which was organized in Goa in collaboration with the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) at the Marquinez Palace in Panaji, has been cancelled as the venue was not disabled friendly.

DRAG president Avelino de Sa said that they had written a letter to the organizers bringing to their notice that the Marquinez Palace is not accessible to persons with disabilities as it is on the first floor, without any lift or ramp access.

The letter was sent on January 17. In that they also informed the organizers that the state commissioner for persons with disabilities has passed an order in November 2008 giving the ESG time till January 6, 2009, to make their theaters disabled friendly, in compliance of Section 45 of the Disabilities Act and Article 9 of the UN
Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities.

"However, they have not yet complied with the orders of the State Disabilities Commissioner and made their premises disabled friendly. We humbly beg you not to hold the tricontinental film festival at the Marquinez Palace as many disabled people for whom theater is the only source of entertainment will not be able to view your films at the Marquinez palace. It will also give a bad name to your society as the delegates from all over the world will know that you have scant regard for human rights," DRAG stated in the letter.

They also threatened that if the organizers failed to consider their request, then they would be forced to stage a dharna by disabled persons at the inaugural ceremony.

Alika Khosla from Breakthrough, who was organizing the festival in Goa said, "It has been decided to cancel the Goa leg of the TriContinenal Film Festival. We hope to find a suitable venue that is accessible to all in the near future so that the people of Goa do not lose out on seeing some of the most cutting edge films on human rights from the global south. This was the first time that Goa was included in the circuit of the main festival."