Bharat Yatra Flag off at Kanyakumari by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi

“This march is a march from darkness to light, from fear to freedom, from shame to holding your head up towards dignity.”

It is with this belief and vision that Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Laureate (2014) and a human rights activist from India, has been at the forefront of the global movement to end child slavery and exploitative child labour for over 35 years now.

He has sought to eradicate all forms of violence against children including sexual abuse and trafficking. He has rescued over 80,000 child slaves and developed a successful model for their education and rehabilitation.

Mr Satyarthi has embarked on a historic Bharat Yatra to spearhead the fight against child trafficking and sexual abuse across the country.

“ I declare a war on the rape of the children of this country. I am compelled to march across the length and breadth of India because I cannot merely mourn the death of the conscience of the nation. When a child is raped, morality dies”

The yatraflagged off on September 11th from the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari and will pass through 22 states and union territories over 35 days covering over 11,000 kilometres, stretching to western India and reaching Delhi.

The Yatra on the Eastern side will commence from Guwahati, while Srinagar will flag off the northern stretch. All these stretches will culminate in the national capital of Delhi, on the 16th of October this year.

Mr. Satyarthi fondly said, “Kanyakumari holds a special place in my heart. The previous Bharat Yatra I undertook, which was the Shiksha Yatra of 2001, was also launched from Kanyakumari and progressed to New Delhi. The flag off from Kanyakumari the Vivekananda Memorial, commemorates the anniversary of the great leader’s address at Chicago in 1893.”

Mr. Satyarthi has been preparing for many months, leading up to the Yatra and has met faith leaders and religious heads in New Delhi & Ajmer who have assured him of their support wherever his campaigns go. He has also met corporates leaders from PayTM, Godrej,BSE etc. and has received overwhelming response for his fight against child sexual abuse and trafficking. Mr. Satyarthi wishes to involve all possible stakeholders in the Bharat Yatra, as only then will India witness a true revolution and a change in the mindset of the people.

Throughout the duration of the Yatra, grassroot programs will witness participation of school and college students, along with leaders from diverse social, cultural, religious, media and corporate organisations. Each day, thousands of residents would join them in solidarity and support. The programs will use theatre, music and folklore in local languages to create mass awareness against violence inflicted on children.

Says Mr Kailash Satyarthi, “I believe more the people, louder the voice, greater the awareness and faster the action. The Bharat Yatra aims to build a universal consensus. The vision that I have dreamt and nurtured for several decades- a world free of child sexual abuse and violence against children must now become the motto of every citizen of India. Only then we will see our children, safe and secure.”

India has the largest child population in the world with 444.1 million. It accounts for 36% of the total population of the country. While children are the bedrock of our nation and its economic development, what is worrisome is the growing menace of child sexual abuse and child trafficking, says Mr Satyarthi.

“If child labour, slavery, trafficking, and violence against children continues, we will fail to accomplish most of the development goals,” he firmly emphasises.

“It is critical to both strengthen laws against trafficking and abuse and sensitise citizens to not remain silent about violence inflicted on children. The POCSO Act is a step in the right direction to curb violence against children. We applaud the lawmakers of this country for diligently carrying forward the implementation of this.

The law needs to be strengthened even more to be able to curb the magnitude of crime being committed against our children,” he says.

Mr Satyarthi is credited to be the architect of the single largest civil society network for the exploited children. His movement, “The Global March Against Child Labour”, whose mobilisation of unions, civil society and children led to the adoption of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour in 1999.

With his undying efforts to help children afford the childhood they deserve,Mr Satyarthi established that child labour is responsible for the perpetuation of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, population explosion and many other social evils.

The World over, two children are sold every minute. Between 600,000 and 800,000 men, women and children are trafficked across international borders each year. This trafficking is helping in generating aprofit of USD 32 billion annually. Approximately 80% are women and girls; up to 50% are minors.

With a vision to eradicate all forms of violence against children over five years, Mr Satyarthi launched the ‘100 million for 100 million’ campaign in December 2016. The campaign seeks to highlight the menace of child abuse and child trafficking globally and mobilise people to push for a conducive policy framework to curb trafficking of children.

What he achieved with his unwavering commitment and passion concerning child labour, he intends to achieve for child trafficking and child sexual abuse as well. In short, Mr Satyarthi refuses to rest on his laurels. His passion for seeing every child in this world live safe and free is motivating him to be on his feet.

To mobilise the support of leaders across the world, Mr Satyarthi and his Foundation, Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation, brought together Nobel laureates and leaders on a single platform, to harness they're collective intellectual, moral and political will to build a child-free world.

The Laureates and Leaders for Children Summit held in December 2016, concentrated on buildinga strong moral platform for protecting all children from violence and ensuring the world where all children are free to be children. This Summit sought to amplify the collective leadership and moral authority of Nobel laureates across different fields, world leaders and champions of children’s rights. Some of the Noble Laureate who was part of the Summit is The Dalai Lama, Her Excellency Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia (2010-13), Mr Angel Gurria, Secretary General, OCED, Princess Charlene of Monaco and Princess Laurentin of the Netherlands.

The strength of Mr Satyarthi’s passion lies in the belief that youth across the world are looking to change the mindset of people and the norms of law to protect and nurture children. He firmly believes in children’s freedom from all kinds of exploitation- be it sexual, physical or mental, and is determined to continue to fight for their safety, security and happiness, till violence against children is eradicated across the world.

Q & A on the Bharat Yatra

Why are you doing the Bharat Yatra?
Bharat Yatra is my war to end all forms of abuse. Child rape and sexual abuse have become a moral epidemic that haunts our nation. We can no longer remain silent spectators. Our silence is breeding more violence. That is why the Bharat Yatra is the beginning of an all-out war on rape, abuse and trafficking. We at this moment, declare that we refuse to let victims and their families live in fear while the rapists roam free and fearless. I refuse to accept that eight children go missing and two are raped every hour. If a single child is in danger, India is in danger. Bharat Yatra is to make India safe again for our children. Make no mistake: this will be a decisive war; a war to reclaim the morality of the Indian soul.”

Tell us about Bharat Yatra.
The Bharat Yatra is a pan-India movementto raise mass awareness about the growing menace of child sexual abuse and child trafficking. It will cover 22 states and union territories, spanning 11,000kms. Moreover, will fight for the cause of millions of children, for their safety, security and freedom. o The Bharat Yatra will be organised between September to October 2017, from Kanyakumari to Delhi with smaller yatras culminating in Delhi from all other zones of the country. Through the Yatra, the aim is to ensure that the topic of child sexual abuse and assault becomes a subject of conversation in every household, at every level. It aims to create aconversation so powerful that it will force stakeholders and visionaries across the country to relook and re-work the methods of prevention of violence against children and the redressal available to them.

When and how did the idea trigger you?
I have advocated for the safety and security of the children across the world, for over 35 years and have launched marches that have led to the inclusion of education as a fundamental right and the ratification of the ILO.

The Bharat Yatra conceptualised on the theme of Surakshit Bachpan- Surakshit Bharat (Safe Childhood- Safe India) is the movement of the 21st century which will combat the evils of all forms of violence against children.

I will not let the parents of these children live in pain, helplessness, trauma and shame for the rest of their lives. Children are the future of India, and there should be no place for child rapists in the country.

What is the whole motive of Bharat Yatra?
It is critical to make the public aware of the extent and seriousness of the crimes of trafficking and sexual abuse. Public mobilisation and mass awareness creation help in bringing this issue to the centre stage for social awakening and action. The Yatra will look to change the mindset of the people and sensitise them to the most urgent and pressing issue of child sexual abuse and child trafficking. How this abuse is, in fact, organised crime.

It will become the ‘voice’ of the children, unable to speak up and fight for their dignity. By exploiting children through labour, sex and torture, people only lay the foundation for social, political and economic destruction of our country. o This march pushes for the specificity that a bill tabled in the parliament will provide. If passed, the bill will finally define the ambiguity surrounding the action necessary to be taken in cases of child trafficking.

How many participants are you expecting in this yatra?
As this Yatra will look to involve the people in this country to fight for their future, people from all walks of life will join us. By the end of this Yatra, we aim to have at least 1 crore Indians join us and take a pledge to fight against child sexual abuse and trafficking. My foundation and I have been in talks with several faith leaders, parliamentarians, corporates etc. all of whom have wholeheartedly declared support for the Yatra and have promised that their supporters and employees would also join us to Make India Safe Again for our children

Kailash Satyarthi Speech on the Vivekananda Rock memorial

Dear friends, the sun rises every day, but today's sun rise is different. Today the sun rose to dispel the darkness of fear, hopelessness, child sexual abuse and trafficking

My dear children of India, sisters, brothers and all dignitaries present, let us march together, let us march for safety of children, let us assemble for righteousness. Let us flag off the Bharat Yatra.

Every day the waves of the ocean, the sun, the trees of Kanniyakumari, all assemble here to pray for India. Today the waves of the ocean are marching with us to free India from child sexual abuse,
exploitation and trafficking. We are not ready to accept, children are raped. We refuse to accept India as a country where children are abused.

Children are not safe in schools, at home, at the playgrounds. India is a land of saints and saviours. Those who are marching for the children, represent these saviours and I hope you take the same
pledge.

This is the war for making India safe. 'Asothama satgamaya, thamasoma jyotir gamaya' (from ignorance, lead me to truth; from darkness lead me to light). This march is a march from darkness to light, from fear to freedom, from shame to holding your heads up towards dignity.

If even one child is in danger, India is in danger. I resolve today to make India safe. Young marchers, we are waging war against exploitation of children and you are the warriors and every step you take will be written about in gold letters.

Kanniyakumari is a very important place for us, because the inspiration for many of us, Swami Vivekananda, though he wasn’t born here, we are in the shadow of the rock.

Your voice is the voice of the thousands of parents who have suffered, your voice is for those victims who have gone through trauma. Let us march from silence to sound. Let us March.

Pledge

I pledge – to make India safe for children from sexual abuse and rape.
I pledge to stop all violence against children, including child labour, child marriage and all forms of
trafficking
I pledge to oppose use of children for any forms of violence
I pledge to raise my voice and report whenever I see any abuse or any form of violence against
children.
I pledge to join this war against rape and to make India safe-for children