Together we must break the shackles of silence
Society needs a moral resurgence where child safety emotionally binds us and defines political agenda in India
E xtraordinary feats are achieved when ordinary people decide to speak out and act decisively. When we launched our non-violent war against child rape, sexual abuse and trafficking from the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari on September 11 in the form of a Bharat Yatra, I was relying on the power of dreams, and the power of ordinary people.
Three weeks and more than 6,500 km later, I am now confident and can dream of an India where children will be safe from predators and where our loud collective voices will sweep away the shackles of silence. There are 300 core marchers, a majority of them survivors who are a source of inspiration.
The hundreds of victims who are marching are reawakening the slumbering conscience of our society. We refuse to accept an India where children remain unsafe, where children can be abused, raped and killed in schools, inside homes, child care centres, hospitals and in public spaces. We need a moral resurgence where the safety of children becomes a social, psychological and emotional issue that binds all of us. We want the safety of children as a defining political agenda.
The wholehearted support from senior members of judiciary in every state has been of great significance. Everywhere that we have gone , mosques, gurdwaras, temples and churches have welcomed us with wide open arms. What it made me realise is that Indians are angry at the way children are being treated. And they want change.
And change is possible. A few days ago, at a function in Delhi, home minister Rajnath Singh gave a public commitment that a new law against child trafficking will soon be tabled in Parliament.
But this war will not be won till our society changes. A bolder and more compassionate society would not have allowed the uncle of a 12-year-old girl to keep raping her till her pregnancy was so advanced that abortion was not an option. Child victims are abused first by predators. Then they are shamed by society. Finally, they are abused, shamed and harassed inside court rooms where cases take years to be decided. Isn’t it a matter of horror that barely 5% of cases under POCSO result in conviction?
All the talk of demographic dividend is empty rhetoric if we allow thousands of children to be abused, raped, trafficked and murdered. If we truly want India to become a great nation, we must first make it safe for children. This Bharat Yatra is a moral crusade against a moral epidemic. Let’s make this the last generation to witness the abomination of child abuse.