Ranveer Singh, known to raise his voice about social issues that matter to him, is urging authorities to consider declaring the Indian Sign Language (ISL) as the 23rd official language of India.
Not only is the Bajirao Mastani actor signing a petition aimed at furthering awareness of this cause, his independent record label IncInk which he has formed with Navzar Eranee is releasing its first sign language video titled Vartalap, created by rapper/poet Spitfire from his debut four-track EP Paathshala.
“We created IncInk as a platform to promote inclusivity through art, hence the name ‘IncInk’.
Through this endeavour of ours, we’re lending support to the cause of making Indian Sign Language the 23rd official language of India. I will be signing the official petition filed by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) India with support from the ‘Access Mantra Foundation’, who are working tirelessly to make this a reality.
I urge my fellow Indians to join this cause and give it momentum by building awareness about it. We are also releasing our first sign language video on Spitfire’s latest track Vartalap with the hope that the track will trigger more conversations on the issue,” says Ranveer.
The Vartalap ISL music video was created in collaboration with AccioMango, a community-based start-up managed and operated by deaf professionals and founded by deaf expert Dr Alim Chandani.
It advocates and aims to create equal opportunities for the Indian Deaf Community in compliance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016 Dr Chandani is also the CEO of Access Mantra Foundation (AMF), a non-profit organisation that aims to create awareness among the hearing-impaired community for information that is not easily accessible to them.