Satyarthis godson Gurjar makes it to influential list JAIPUR: Nobel peace prize winner Kailash Satyarthi, who received the medal on Wednesday, has another reason to celebrate. Rescued from slavery by Satyarthis Bachpan Bachao Andolan, 22-year-old Om Prakash Gurjar is featured in seven most influential youngsters in the world for bringing change in varied fields by the Netherlands-based KidsRights Foundation. This list also includes Nobel peace winner Malala Yousufzai. Gurjar is also a recipient of prestigious International child peace award in 2006 which was given to Malala in 2013. Gurjar earned these distinctions for his tireless efforts towards eradicating child labour and slavery which he owe to his Bhaisahabji (Satyarthi). These seven youngsters were recently invited to United Kingdom on November 18 along with Satyarthi to attend a conference. Here Gurjar held a detailed discussion with Malala via teleconferencing to form a common platform in the sub-continent for raising womens issues. Malala was very keen to hear about the problems being faced by girls in India. She told me that most of the problems girls are facing are common in both countries and can be addressed together, said Gurjar who accompanied Satyarthi to Japan, Netherlands and UK. Next year, both are attending a conference in New York. In fact, life wasnt smooth for him. Gurjar was born in Dwarapur village, in Alwar. Unable to repay a loan, his father had to send him to a landlord at the age of five. For three years he could rarely see his family members and lived the life of a slave. I can never forget those days. I used to work for 18 hours a day with two meals and without wages. My routine work involved tending cattle, ploughing, sowing, harvesting and using pesticides and other chemicals in fields, said Gujjar. He lost the hope of coming out of this vicious circle until one fine day activists of Bachpan Bachao Andolan along with police rescued them from the dungeon. By the time he was rescued, slavery had a toll on him. He was severely underweight and was under depression. He was sent to a rehabilitation centre (Bal Ashram) for better medical treatment and proper diet. Soon after he recovered from his horrific past, he expressed his urge to study. Not many of us knew that Gurjars efforts were responsible for free education in government schools in Rajasthan which was followed by other states. In 2004, at the age of 11, he raised his voice against the practice of charging fees from students in government schools. His protest shaped into a petition which was filed in the Rajasthan High Court and consequently the court passed the judgment in favour of the students and ordered the school authorities to return their money. Later, this persuaded the state to pass an order that no school will take money from the parents with his case as an apt example. This initiative by Gurjar created a legal precedent which left a strong impact in Rajasthan. Under the guidance of Satyarthi, he persuaded his institute, Poornima University, to provide him space and facility to open a school for underprivileged. Presently, he along with other students are teaching nearly 45 students in this school. Bhaisahabji always says that wherever you go, you should try to bring change in the lives of poor and needy, said Gurjar. His achievements, which paved the way for his international recognition, played a significant role in making his home village a bal mitra cram (child-friendly village). He has rescued nearly 700 children in Delhi who were forced into child labour to do zari work with hardly any meals. As part of goodwill gesture, he went to Pakistan along with 32 other kids to participate in the event cricket for peace to retain healthy relations with them. Other five featured are Baruni from Congo for working on refugees, Kez from Philippines for teaching street children the importance of hygiene, Francia from Dominican Republic for right to name and nationality, Neha Gupta of US for providing education and healthcare for disadvantaged children, Chaeli, an ability activist from South Africa, Thandiwa from Zambia for fighting for education HIV and AIDS. timesofindia.indiatimes/India/Satyarthis-godson-Gurjar-makes-it-to-influential-list/articleshow/45469581.cms
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 07:14:04 +0000