'There is a strong component of idealism in the youth'

Noble thoughts

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi, who has been fighting against child labour, slavery and other issues, believes that today’s youth have the potential to meet the challenges that come in the way of having a world free of agony for the young ones. He says that today’s youth need to realise their social responsibilities as they can “create a new generation of transformation”.

He says, “A lot has been said and done when it comes to issues related to children but one area that is really untapped is the young people, globally. This generation is special because of their ability to think fast. They have knowledge of many things and are so well connected. We have a very strong component of idealism in young people which is not identified and harnessed, tapped or used properly. Their energy, enthusiasm is unprecedented. We need to make them feel responsible, arm them with self pride and help them to become champions. They can create a new generation of transformation. Every single young person has a hero inside him or her. Let us find the hero.”

Citing an example from his young days, Satyarthi recalls how, at the age of 11, he managed to open a bank of 3,000 books for the students who left schooling because their parents were unable to afford the text books.

“Me and a friend of mine hired a thela (push cart) and roamed in the lanes of Bidisha, convincing people to give us their children’s books which are of no use now. We ensured them that if they gave us books, we would take them to the children who cannot afford. Within four or five hours, we were able to collect over 2,000-3,000 books. Till then, I had no idea what to do with them and how to distribute. Then the thought of opening a book bank came to my mind, from where the students could borrow books for one year and after they pass out of the class, they would have to return it. Gradually, it became a bank of 10,000 books,” he tells Metrolife.

The 62-year-old who recently launched his first book titled Azad Bachchpan Ki Aur, says that his soon-to-be-launched autobiography will carry many such incidents from his life. Azad Bachchpan Ki Aur is a compilation of his previous articles and philosophy that tries to encompass all aspects of child abuse. It has two components — instances of his struggles and analysis of the problems towards finding solutions.

“This book is a journey of my thoughts, which eventually got stronger. My struggle has been to take out answers from the problems rather than just opposing. I tried to establish a principle that abolition of child labour and education of children are two sides of the same coin. You cannot achieve one without other,” he says.

Satyarthi believes that all issues related to children like labour, slavery, education and poverty should be dealt with an integrated approach.

According to him, issues of health, education and protection of children are so interconnected that we cannot achieve one without the other.

“The problem globally is that neither the society nor the government institution and our policies and programs have an integrated approach to the issue. There are institutions with different agendas and many a times they compete with each other. So this issue has not been dealt keeping at the top.”

Through his book, he tries to challenge various myths and superstitions that bring about these social concerns.

“Child labour perpetuates poverty and social evils. I have tried to establish the triangular-relation among child labour, illiteracy and poverty which was quite unheard. I have also dared to challenge the misdeeds under the name of religion. Religions are born out of compassion and the children are the core of it. We cannot ignore the fact. I brought some quotes from Bible, Quran and Indian religious books where religions strongly advocated welfare of children in different language and different ways,” he adds.