Wasim was a recipient of the Snowdon Scholarship in 2022 and shares below his ambitions and commitment to justice.
“My name is Wasim and I recently graduated with an LLB Honours Law Degree. I am now starting the Bar Practice Course with Master’s in Law with the University of Law Birmingham.
I am an aspiring disabled Barrister and have significant interest in helping others overcome adversity and do a significant amount of voluntary work to that affect, such as Amicus ALJ’s Death Penalty Project, food banks and welfare and advice centres.
I vowed to be part of policy making and influence in the community so I could raise awareness and lead action for change; primarily at grass roots level; including education, mental wellbeing, and social and moral justice.
I grew up in an impoverished area in Birmingham where the disabled community and the youth, who I see as the leaders of tomorrow, have had significant community lifelines taken away, such as libraries, mental health groups, sports centres, community centres and initiatives. They have nobody to talk to, the local funding does not reach them, benefits do not increase with the cost of living, there is little to no support and the barriers remain to this day.
I want to change this. I want to be part of this change. I want to promote this change. I want to advocate for the removal of all barriers they face, most notably the relentless antagonistic approaches by policymakers, courts, and offender supervision services.
I believe that: We must stop treating the leaders of tomorrow, as the enemies of today.
I want to be the voice for those who are essentially voiceless in the process of policy-making that concerns them. I recognised early on that, marginalised communities have no real representation in society and government and that standards would need to be raised for real change.
I am grateful to have been selected as a Snowdon Scholar which has and will continue to assist me in overcoming the significant challenges and adversity that prevent accessibility to the Bar.
I leave you with the words of Judge Higginbotham and Professor Harold Hongju Koh (1994) which ring true even today:
“Poverty, hatred, malnutrition, inadequate healthcare and housing, corruption in government, and the failure of our public-school system continue to haunt us today….
To paraphrase Justice Holmes,
the life of the law must not be mere logic; it must also be values.
Those critical moral and human values cannot be acquired by even the most meticulous reading of opinions and statutes…
Each lawyer must consciously and constantly assess his or her values and goals in forging rules of law for the future.”
Disabled Leaders Network Blog 