Declaring that his all-out war against child trafficking and sexual abuse has started, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi kicked-off his 36-day ‘Bharat Yatra’ from the southern tip of the country towards New Delhi, the national capital, on Monday.
“This is not just a yatra towards New Delhi… It’s a historic and determined attempt to make India safe for our children as 40 children are raped everyday in the country.
“We cannot be silent spectators as our silence is breeding more violence against innocent children.
“So it’s a decisive war against child trafficking and sexual abuse, a moral epidemic, to make the country safe for our children,” Mr. Satyarthi said minutes before Union Minister of State for Transport, Highways and Shipping Pon. Radhakrishnan flagged off the rally at the imposing Vivekananda Rock Memorial in the presence of District Collector Sajjansingh R. Chavan.
Living in fear
He said while the victims and their families were living in fear, the rapists were fearlessly roaming around freely and it should not be allowed to continue.
The nation should not allow the rapists to kill the innocence, smile and the freedom of the children and not let the parents of these victims live in pain, helplessness and trauma for the rest of their lives. The word ‘freedom’ would assume greater significance only if the children’s rights, safety and security were guaranteed and all forms of violence against children were eradicated.
“My war to end all forms of abuse against children has started today. Are you with me?” asked Mr. Satyarthi, an active campaigner for the freedom, safety and security of the children for the past 36 years.
Terming child trafficking and sexual abuse of children as the ‘largest organised crime’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his message on ‘Bharat Yatra’, had said all forms of violence against children should come to an end by creating awareness among the public on this issue.
Well attended
Though it was a hot and humid forenoon, a good number of enthusiastic students from various schools and colleges joined the activists constantly raising slogans against child trafficking and sexual abuse.
The yatra is aimed at increasing awareness and reporting of the cases, strengthening institutional response including medical assistance and compensations, ensuring protection for the victim and the witnesses during the trial of the case and increasing convictions in child sexual abuse cases.
The yatra, after covering 11,000 km across 22 States, will end in New Delhi on October 16.
In Tamil Nadu, the yatra will pass through Madurai, Salem, Vellore and Chennai.
After the yatra was flagged off, the rallyists reached the venue of the inaugural function, where several religious leaders addressed the gathering.
