TURA: Being part of a nation whose children, according to estimates constitute about 39 percent of the country’s population and has more than 11 million street children, there could not have been a more befitting occasion than a talk on children’s rights to wake up to the harsh reality!
And who better than the tireless crusader and Nobel Peace Prize awardee Kailash Satyarthi to drive home the point.
And drive he did in substance and style with a mixture of Hindi and English, irony and humour, statistics and much else, to deliver the home truth of bitter realities about lost childhoods.
“Stand up to atrocities against children. There is a hero in each one of us,” motivated Satyarthi as he spoke to an animated group of youth on the challenges facing the decision makers of tomorrow.
Organised by NEHU to commemorate his birth anniversary and remember the living legend, the 2nd P A Sangma Memorial Lecture entitled “Building a Compassionate World for Children”, had the eloquent and experienced Nobel laureate who for over three decades has been at the forefront fighting for the vulnerable, waging a battle, lonely at times, speak for children and their lost causes.
Braving a sultry Saturday afternoon made worse by the sparse amenities of the district auditorium in Tura, Satyarthi spoke and the audience listened rapt in attention.
“I want the freedom of every child to be free”, said a concerned Satyarthi and the audience echoed with a loud applause.
A speech laced with both humour and irony, and of course staggering statistics had the audience somber and pensive. A staunch defendant of talking truth to power, Satyarthi pulled back no punches when it came to citing examples critiquing societies and powers that be.
For Satyarthi, a crusader with his back to basics, the irony lay in a world obsessed with gadgets and technology where tragically millions of children have no access to the rudimentary education.
“Today’s world of speed and technology is also about 152 million children who never saw their childhood and became victims of forced labour and exploitation,” rued an emotional Satyarthi.
The Nobel laureate lamented that each missing number of a child is not a statistic but a human tragedy in itself.
“Every number has a face. Go and talk to a mother who has lost a child to forced labour or trafficking and you will feel the pain,” said Satyarthi as he went on to speak about the numerous raids conducted by his organization to liberate children and childhood from the clutches of exploiters.
Referring to a raid on a toy manufacturing factory in New Delhi, sometime back, Satyarthi with a penchant for talking truth to power said, “Children as young as 8 years of age ridden with scars had never experienced the joy of playing with a toy that they had to make for someone else. This was happening at the national capital of the world’s biggest democracy!”
Speaking truth to power, Satyarthi took on governments and the adult world filled with informed choices to state that children, be it in Syria or in Sri Lanka or nearer home in India, have no role in war or violence!
Citing threats such as war, global warming, poverty, building borders and dividing humanity on religious and ethnic lines, Satyarthi held adults accountable for such follies while stating that children who had no stake in decision-making suffered the disastrous of consequences.
Elaborating on the idea of compassion, the Nobel Peace Prize awardee said that the globalized consumerism ought to be replaced by “Globalized Compassion” and there is a hero in each one of us.
“What’s lacking today is compassion. Every religion in the world was born out of compassion. Once each one of us has this feeling of globalised compassion the world will be a better place for all, especially for Children!” concluded the Nobel Peace Prize awardee.
Speaking on behalf of the P A Sangma family, Home Minister James Pangsang K Sangma spoke at length about the daunting tasks the Meghalaya government faces in its efforts to contain the menace of substance abuse and the need to encourage awareness not just on drug addiction but also on crimes against women and children.