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A Small Small Girl in a Big Bad World

The newspaper headline screams at me - a leading school faces the issue of child molestation in Noida, so close to the national capital.
                                       
I sit next to the newspaper, horrified,terrified petrified, dumb-founded. 
The kids are close to three and half year, pre-nursery, much below the Khap prescribed marrying age.

Where do we hide those kids, tell us, our honourable (they insist being addressed thus, else they call it
infringement of parliamentary privileges, notwithstanding their behaviour in the parliament). leaders, 
"pray, do tell me, Is there any one concerned?"
I cradle my child in my arms, hold her so close to my heart, that no one and nothing may pierce through the impenetrable circle of my embrace to reach her. She looks up at me with those dove like eyes, not understanding me any bit. Suddenly, the winter morning is no longer pleasant not even in Delhi, and I leave for work, with worries hanging over my head. 
We claim to be country of tomorrow; by 2020 we 
expect to be producing around 17 percent of the
 global GDP, and we are meek enough not to be able to even protect our children. 
Do we realise that human race has survived this far primarily because of the strong intent of the parents to protect and nourish their offsprings? Our future, not only as a nation but as a human race resides in them, they hold the key to our future.

 The traditional politicos are busy with mission 2014, 
the newly emerged one, civil society ones, struggling with a conventional dress code of Gandhi topi ( am I the only one who finds this dress regressively cliched?), is busy in their weekly scoops. I had some hope with the latter, but they have become anti-corruption fanatics. (Is Mr. Kajriwal listening)


Do you hear me, Mr. New Age Neta, I have a daughter, and while I do fear what larger issues like corruption and communalisation is doing to the nation, I want the state to protect my child. I would like to see what my vote seeking politicians plan to do to create a better world for my child. Is there anyone talking of creating a framework of child protection network maybe, aligned with the police, as a neighbourhood watch? Why not, because kids don't vote and do not know why they are being subjected to what they being subjected to? It would be worth your while, Sir, to note that though they do not vote, as their parents, we do, and this is a concerned vote bank which cuts across, religion, quota, non-quota, and poor and not-poor. You can not ignore the young of this nation, not for long, we will stand for them, won't we? 

Comments

Saket Suryesh said…
Thanks for the visit and comment, Purba. What is more important than the knee jerk responses is to have a proper framework established which would act as a deterrent. Gruesome punishment can not help much, and might even cause greater threat when prohibitive framework is not in place. Why can't we have designated officials with legal powers at block level for child protection and welfare?
November 15, 2012 at 1:02 AM
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