Brief Note of S.J.Day Event.
1st
Anniversary of 'Satyamev Jayate' & Workshop on Human Trafficking marked by
Social Interaction & Churning of Realities, attended by Social Workers
& Representatives of Social Institutions-----
Actor, Director & Producer Aamir Khan sensitized the Indian minds about the
social realities through 'Satyamev Jayate' campaign. The first anniversary of
this campaign was celebrated on 1st may 2013 in 'Snehalaya',
Ahmednagar in a most meaningful way. This celebration was attended by eminent
guests of honour. Mr. Aamir Khan himself along with Hon. Mr. Anna Hazare,
Social Scientist Dr. Praveen Patkar, M.D of Sakal Media Group Mr. Abhijeet
Pawar as well as ‘Satyamev Jayate’s’ founder team members Mrs. Svati & Mr.
Satyajit Bhatkal & Mr. Lancy Fernandes were present on the dias. Mrs. Jaya
Jogdand & Mr. Naresh Katore are the trustees of Snehalaya who are from the
beneficiaries community of Snehalaya were representing the ngo on Dais.
This
event was not organized by 'Snehalaya' only to show gratitude or to
praise the effort it was done with a specific intention to create a 'Social
Empowerment' against the important & explosive social issues by organizing
interactions between experts, active social workers & representatives of
various social institutions working for women & children. Hence a workshop
on 'National Calamities & Illegal Trafficking' was organized at
'Snehalaya', Ahmednagar.
At present States like Gujrat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh have been affected
by drought. The Marathwada region in Maharashtra has been traumatized due to
water scarcity. This situation which leads to migration creates a conducive
environment for illegal trafficking of women & children. This natural &
to some extent man made drought situation leads to the highlighting of
discussion on water scarcity in the media as well as by the people. But this
discussion does not even contain traces about the important problem of
migration. Past experiences have shown that the natural calamities like the
earthquake in Maharashtra & Gujarat, Tsunami, or the Cyclones in Orissa
have lead to the sexual exploitation of women & children by criminal
troops. 'Snehalaya' has rescued such victims of Gujarat earthquake from
sexploitation and hence they sensed this danger on the background of drought
situation.
So
this workshop was organized to emphasize the need of preventive &
collective solutions through dialogue & co-ordination amongst the social
institutions. 165 delegates from 16 states participated in the workshop. The
social institutions working on the ground against illegal human trafficking
have always felt the need of such a workshop' this reality came into light
through the real life experiences which they put forth in the workshop.
The role of 'Satyamev Jayate' was not restricted to just bring to light the
real picture of the society. But it played the important role of providing a
common platform to all the social initiatives and institutions. It also
enabled a dialogue among them & tried to give an inspiration to work
together with full & substantial understanding of the common issues. 'Sirf
hungama khada karma mera maksad nahi, meri koshish haiki yaha surat badlni
chahiye' this statement by Aamir Khan has been proved by Aamir & his team
by including social institutions like 'Snehalaya' & others in the campaign.
All this has been done by Aamir in his unique style without any pretensions in
a straightforward manner with utmost humility.
This event organized by 'Snehalaya' has been unique in its own way. There was
no 'Corporate Sponsorship' for this event. All the female sex workers &
4000 social workers from the Snehalaya Pariwar contributed for the event. The
traveling expenses were born by the participants themselves. Only the
accommodation & meals expenses were born by 'Snehalaya'. None of the
participants complained about petty things like non availability of AC in the
scorching heat. None of the eminent speakers including Aamir & his team
asked for any participation fees. The whole event was a success due to the
sensitivity 7 humanitarian feelings of all the social institutions. 'Satyamev
Jayate' has now become a key word & a campaign for the motivation & a guiding
light to bring about a universal change in the country. This event has proved
that 'Satyamev Jayate' is a campaign which is truly dedicated for understanding
& actually acting for the people in distress.
Mr.Hazare & others have saluted this creative expression which is a result
of Aamir Khan’s emotional involvement, patriotism & the unease he felt due
to the hard hitting ground realities. This underlines the effectiveness of the
campaign rightly named 'Satyamev Jayate'.
As this workshop was attended by delegates from all over India, the complete
programme was conducted in Hindi.
MEDICINE OF LOVE
The opening session of the two day workshop was in context of 'Satyamev
Jayate'. An open discussion with Aamir Khan was initiated by Mr. Rajeev Kumar.
Mr. Rajeev Kumar who works on a senior post with Wipro at Boston, Struck an
intimate chord with Aamir. Aamir revealed the journey of his life &
inspiration which he has drawn in his life. The inequality, exploitation, wrong
doings, harassment & insensitivity in the society greatly disturb Aamir. He
wants to use all his abilities & skills to create a positivity & thus
bring about a fundamental change in the society. Recognising his own
limitations, Aamir feels the need to change himself. According to Aamir the
best way to find a solution to any major & complicated issue lies in the
strength of love. These thoughts expressed by Aamir show his close bonding with
the Gandhian thoughts.
Mr. Hazare congratulated Aamir for the production of 'Satyamev Jayate'. Anna
Hazare noted that the campaign of 'Satyamev Jayate' has resulted in the
introspection & self motivation of the youth all over India. No wonder that
in the Delhi Gang Rape case these self motivated youth, started an agitation by
taking to the streets. Anna also observed that this inspiration inculcated
among the youth by 'Satyamev Jayate' was responsible for the thread of flame of
motivation. Anna presented the 'Scroll Of Honour' titled, 'Mere Sapno ka
Sehodhar Aamir', to Aamir written by Anna himself . Anna also felt that both
Aamir & Anna himself shared the same vision & thought process, besides
this the ultimate objectives of both of these emminent personalities were the
same.
View of Media
Mr. Abhijeet Pawar congratulated Aamir & his team for this innovative show
& felt that most of the social issues could be solved by working with the
women.This is the reason why 'Sakal Media Group' has decided on a media policy
to address social & public issues directly through the 'Tanishka Stree
Prathishtha Abhiyaan'. Mrs. Svati & Mr. Satyajeet Bhatkal along with Mr.
Fernandes also shared their experiences they got during the making of
'Satyamev Jayate'. Many social workers as well as institutions consistently try
to find solutions to certain issues through their competence &
skills. However Their efforts do not always reach the masses. Aamir & his
team confidently stated that if all these efforts are united together,
constructive & inclusive work based on morality is possible which can win
over the destructive tendencies & resulting in positive changes to bring a
new ray of hope. Svati, Satyjit & Lancy stated that the journey
of 'Satyamev Jayate' has made their lives affluent, Positive &
hopeful. Dr. Patkar felt that though we cannot expect such programmes like
'Satyamev Jayate' to bring about a revolution, but such programmes surely
result in churning of the society. This programme has also helped the people at
the grassroots of the society & provided an identity & direction to the
institutions that work on social support using innovative working methods.
Aamir & his team has played an emulative role in developing a compassionate
& neutral outlook towards the exploited.
The
'Snehadhar National Helpline', a 24x7 helpline for providing judicial, medical
help as well temporary shelter &protection to the sex ploited women &
children & victims of human trafficking was inaugurated by Aamir
Khan. 'Earth', a brand of Terra cota Pottery was also inaugurated by Aamir
khan. Mrs. Manjiri Mangesh Kute, a software professional from Banglore quit her
well paying job to train these victims in terracotta art as well as look after
the marketing of the same. For those who feel helpless because of the
exhaustion of the youthful instincts, Manjiri & Mangesh will be a source of
inspiration. Three wonderful books were published on this occasion. 'Defying
Destinies', is a book which can prove to be a guide for the freedom &
rehabilitation of the sex workers. This book includes the detail information
about some of the major actions taken by 'Snehalaya'. 'Aamhi Randa' is abook
based on the biographies of some prostitutes. 'Anant Amuchi Dheyasakti'
includes inspiring biographies of HIV affected Renuka, a victim of child sexual
harassment within his own home Sonal & Puja, a girl who was forcefully
drawn in the flesh trade. 'Sanvedana Snehalayachi' is a book depicting the
formation of Snehalaya & reflects the analysis done by eminent people. A
booklet providing an outline of a new course, 'A to Z' community radio course
which provides a complete know how for building & running a community radio
station was also inaugurated by Aamir ji.
VOICE OF THE VICTIMS
Sangita Shelar, Suman Pande & Puja Gaikwad shared their poignant true life
experiences of the drought & natural calamities which pushed them in the
flesh trade. These real life stories proved the relevance of the workshop. The
drought situation leads to unemployment, which furthet leads to migration &
finally results in sexual exploitation this was the sequence of events put
forth by these women. This true story rendering was followed by the key note
address by Dr. Praveen Patkar. Dr. Praveen Patkar spoke about the current
scenario of flesh trade in India, the sexploitation of the women & children
belonging to scheduled castes-adivasis-nomadic tribes- etc due to natural
calamities. He also effectively underlined the challenges which are to be faced
at various levels by the society-government-judiciary-police-NGO. Many
important points for the declaration of the meet came into light by this
speech.
Mr.Pradeep Purandare, a commentator on Marathwada’s drought situation &
water scarcity issues discussed the history, causes & possible solutions
for the drought situation. Mr. Purandare explained a graph of various causes
for migration. Some of the cause’s put forth by him are drought situation
leading to extinction of potable water reserves, almost 5 lac cane harvesting
labourers from Beed migrating to various parts of Maharashtra in search of
labour. Coincidently at the same time almost 27 lac liters of beer & liquor
was manufactured by using the water which the govt has sold to the liquor
barons from the Jaikwadi dam, the lifeline of Marathwada region. 12 liters
water is required for the manufacturing of 1 liter of beer. Apart from this
1million 38lacs quintals of sugar is manufactured in Marathwada region.1904
liters of water is required for the production of 1kg of sugar.A total of 93
TMC water was supplied for sugarcane. Mr. Purandare sighted examples to prove
that this tremendous water wastage will lead to migration for potable water
which in turn will result in human trafficking.
Dr. Abhilasha kumari representimg 'Aapne aap world wide', Delhi, an NGO working
to prevent human trafficking in Uttar Pradesh, Shrimati M. Sumitra representing
'Ankuram', an NGO working for the same cause in Andhra Pradesh, Ms. Jyoti
Pathania, who works for the rehabilitation of child victims of sexual
exploitation in Pune district & Chetana Sinha-Gala, who founded
the 'Mandeshi bank' to prevent migration from the drought affected Mandesh also
expressed their views regarding the subject of the workshop. They also shared
their experiences & suggested certain solutions to the subject. Other
eminent personalities who participated in the conversation were Priti Patkar,
founder 'Prerana', Sister Lucy, founder 'Maher', Ujwala Lawate, founder
'Manavya'.
To Awaken Blunt Feelings
Mr
Indrejeet Deshmukh, founder 'Shivam Pratishthan', addressed the concluding
session. He said, “Environmentalist, Al Gore has predicted the extinction of
human species due to environmental changes. The Indian people & politicians
are only thinking about those problems. None of them want to be are aware of
the ground realities. All their feelings have become either blunt or dormant.
The need of the hour is to awaken their spirits by putting forth some hard
hitting facts. The problem of migration & human trafficking due to drought
needs to be addressed in a different way. Some permanent solutions have to be
found. It is the need of the hour that the original teachings of Mahatma Gandhi
regarding the reorganization of the rural scenario should be implemented once
again.
Mr. Niloba Jadhav felt the need that the Government should keep a biometric
record of the migrating children. Pressurizing the Govt. to chalk out a proper
action plan for the reestablishment of the rural population in their original
habitat should be done time & again till it bear fruitful results.
Adv . Shyam Asawa said that, Migrating & Human trafficking is directly
dependant on the ‘Soil Smuggling’ activities done on a large scale from river
beds. Security groups at the rural level should be established to pressurize
the Govt to take lawful action against these 'Soil Smuggling' activities.
DECLARATION OF ACTION PLAN
A
resolution was passed and an action plan was finalised in the concluding
session.All the social institutions & workers passed a resolution to end
child sexual exploitation in India. 'Minor Free Brothels' was the first
important resolution that was passed unanimously by all the delegates attending
the workshop. The necessary training & guidance for the above resolution
will be imparted by 'Snehalaya'.In order to mark the silver jubilee of
'Snehalaya', in the year 2013-14, a big chunk of its social workers will
dedicate their their services for this cause of 'Minor free Brothels'. More
than 300 different suggestions on various subjects were given. It is understood
from past experiences that attending to too many subjects doesn't give desired
results. The formation of a security armour for the victims of human
trafficking by providing them temporary shelter & rehabilitating them in
various residential institutions, forming youth help groups& 'Minor Free
Brothels' were the points included in the resolution. The drought situation in
the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya pradesh is leading to the migration
& illegal human trafficking of women & children. Hence the Govt. should
provide a temporary shelter to the children similar to the cattle camps. The
social institutions should form 'Special Social security Groups' to keep a
record of the migrating families. Similarly 'Special Social Security Groups'
should survey the red light areas to rescue the minor girls & women who are
the victims of sexual exploitation due to drought & migration. Such cases
of sexual exploitation if found should be immediately reported to 'Snehadhar
National Helpline'. Dr. Girish Kulkarni put forth various methods to take a
regular follow up of the work so that the resolutions are accepted by the
government as well as by the society. All the attending delegates unanimously
supported the stand taken by 'Snehalaya'.
The survey reports prepared by Mr. Rambabu Bhat, Rajasthan, Mr. Dhananjay
Lambe,journalist from Marathwada & 15 others were distributed in the
workshop. These reports underlined the seriousness of the situation.Many of the
delegates shared the experiences of 'Children Camps' provided by social
institutions. These experiences supported the resolution of providing 'Children
Shelter camps' by the govt.
Thus this National Workshop paid an important role in providing a proper
programme to the social institutions as well as it put up a good effort to draw
attention towards the migration & human trafficking on the background of
the drought situations in some parts of India.
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| Anna Hazare & Amir Khan Inaugurating Program |
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