“Today, I declare a war on child sexual abuse and trafficking. Today I am announcing Bharat Yatra, the biggest movement in history to make India safe again for children,” wrote Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, a children’s activist, on Facebook as he posted the video (above). “I refuse to accept that the innocence, smiles and freedom of our children can keep getting stripped and raped. These are not ordinary crimes. This is a moral epidemic haunting our nation.”
Satyarthi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, along with Malala Yousafzai, for the impact of his work on the lives of millions of children. Now he has launched a nation-wide campaign to put an end to child sexual abuse and trafficking. Satyarthi also hopes to introduce a new law against the practice.
“I’m not ready to sit silently. I’m not ready to accept that our daughters and sons will remain unsafe in our country. That’s why we are launching a large campaign for ‘Surakshit Bachpan, Surakshit Bharat’ (Safe Childhood, Safe India),” he says in the video.
The main branch of the Bharat Yatra, which is expected to be joined by at least one crore people, starts at Kanyakumari in Kerala on September 11, and ends in Delhi on October 16. There will be four other routes as well, with all five collectively covering 22 states and 11,000 kilometres.
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