“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” – Hellen Keller
At least once in a lifetime, we stumble across a person that inspires us to do more. These individuals either have exhibited remarkable dedication or have proven themselves even when the odds faced against them.
One such individual is Yousaf Saleem, who is set to be Pakistan’s first ever visually impaired civil judge.
Yousaf, who is 25 years old, hails from Lahore. Even though he was born completely blind, he never let that stop him from doing the unbelievable. As a student of Punjab University, he was a topper of his class and got a gold medal in his LLB (honors).
Out of the 6500 candidates who attempted the civil judge exam, only 21 passed and Yousaf was one of them. Unfortunately, when it came down to the interview, he was rejected based upon his “disability”. He currently works as an Assistant Director (legal) in a department of Punjab government.
The news of him being rejected just because he was blind, was spread like wildfire by the media
Soon enough the honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Muhammad Nisar took notice of this and asked the Lahore High Court (LHC) to review his case. He said that being blind should not be a hurdle in anyone’s way of pursuing their dreams and Yousaf’s case should be reconsidered if he meets all other requirements.
LHC took action on this and Yousaf’s case was reconsidered. After all his hard work, he was finally presented with a letter from LHC recommending him for appointment as a Civil Judge-cum-Magistrate. This just goes to show that if you want something bad enough, nothing can stop you.
Yousaf isn’t the only shining star in his family.
He has four sisters and he is the youngest among them. Two of his sisters are also blind. One sister, Saima Saleem, was the first ever blind Pakistani to pass the civil services exam in 2007. As a gold medalist in English from Kinnaird College, she also represented Pakistan in the UN missions in New York and Geneva. She currently works as the Deputy Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. His other sister, Ayesha, is also blind by birth. She is a lecturer at a university in Lahore while also doing her Ph.D. Talk about a high-achieving family!
Yousaf says that his inspiration comes from the founder of our nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
He says that he has high ambitions and wants to work hard until he becomes the next Chief Justice of Pakistan. People like Yousaf Saleem are an inspiration to all of us. They are breaking the stereotype and proving to the world that blind people can do things just as well. Pakistan is full of such hardworking and dedicated people. We should look up to people like him as an inspiration in our lives and support them in achieving their goals. We wish you the best of luck Yousaf!
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