by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 10, 2006 | ghaziabad girls
I have been perturbed about the future of the ghaziabad girls. Often when I am uneasy about something I sit quietly and let my thoughts wonder in an unbridled way. It fills the terrible emptiness that threatens to devour me, and often brings some solutions or at least some direction in which to proceed.
I can imagine the girls in their Mathura home, with no known face, huddled together in the cold wondering what will happen to them. They must have been subjected to humiliating medical examinations, incessant questioning by total strangers and much more. No matter how indulgent one is, any government run shelter in Uttar Pradesh must not be a great place.
The ghaziabad girls as they are known all have names. I know a few: Ila, Preeti, Meena, Rinki. Wonder who gave them those names. Maybe someone who loved them, as one girl did mention her mother living in a Delhi slum. They had been living in that house of horrors learning to survive, comforting and protecting each other as best they could. Now they face the unknown, even the threat of being separated. What an ordeal that must be.
The abuser is behind bars for just another 6 days. I wonder what the charge sheet will look like. He may just be able to walk free if one is not vigilant. Have the girls been able to tell their story, will they have to face theur abuser.
Wonder what one can do toe ensure that justice is done. When I first wrote about the plight of these girls, there were many reactions. As the story unfolded one could feel the palpable anger that it brought. Kaveeta wrote about it passionately and came up with the idea of concerting efforts in a wiki simply called we need you.
Yes, that is the bottom line: we need you, you here being every human being with a shred of decency, every person who claims caring for children, every one who believes in justice. In the recent past we have seen the power of civil society in many high profile cases. We need the same civil society to stand up for these girls who have no father, sister or peer group to help them, but just have you!
Please join our signature campaign
by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 9, 2006 | Uncategorized
A few days back we had made some courtesy calls, to find out about the well being of some of our children.
This morning, little Deepak made his return courtesy call. It was a very special moment for all of us. He came in his grand mom’s arms but soon decide to show us all he could do with his brand new heart!
He pranced around, giggled and even marked his territory. Our thoughts went back to the days where we could see his tiny chest heaving as every breath he took was a almost Herculean effort.
As I watched him I wondered what would become of him in the years to come. I really cannot imagine as in spite of all odds a host of possibilities await him.
I can however visualise what would have happened if his surgery had not been done. He would have lived a few short years, heaving and panting till his tiny broken heart would have given up.
It took very little to make the difference, just a few caring hearts.
To all those of you who have helped us repair broken hearts a big thank you.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 8, 2006 | ghaziabad girls, two indias
One week ago we were celebrating the rescue of the girls after a 24 hours vigil! Most of us would have liked them to come to Nirmal Chayya Delhi as initially planned. But, in spite of the presence of two autonomous central bodies. National Commission for Women, and the central reserve Police Force, reality struck: we were in Uttar Pradesh, a state known for all the wrong reasons.
One week ago people across India were watching the story unfold on TV and voicing their horror. It took the Supreme Court of India’s intervention to see that the girls were rescued and the abuser arrested.
A hearing was held on the 5th but the medical reports and the NHRC account was not ready. Slowly the media moved on to other things and the little girls once again became invisible. The nest hearing was for today. I searched desperately for some news but in vain. At 5 pm I called Anchal and was told that the hearing was again postponed.
We are all too aware of the ways our legal system functions but how can one not be disturbed by numerous questions that remain unsanswered. One cannot but remember the fact that for over 20 hours the girls and their abuser remained sequestered together, and wonder whether they were threatened.
The Supreme Court granted them security but one to be supervised by the administrator of a UP town; will the medical officer give a honest report. That the girls were ill treated dirty and lived in squalor was there for all to see. But what about the sexual abuse. This is no a rape case and remembering the contempt with which the swami dismissed the girls as being of bad character may lead to him being able to get away. He can simply say that they were abused by someone else!One of the persons who has visited the ashram every week shared another chilling fact; She was shown a register with 80 odd names. In her opinion there were about 60 odd girls when she first went, only 43 were rescued. Where are the missing girls.
We have launched a signature campaign mainly aimed at creating a support group and giving a voice to these girls.
Please join it
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by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 8, 2006 | common school
I have watched with despair the comings and goings of the new admission policy for nursery classes in public schools for quite some time. Had it not concerned children, I would have been amused.
We are once again faced with the normal beating around the bush attitude that we seem to have perfected to a T in India. Many of us have known the woes of getting children admitted in schools. The scurrying around to different parts of the city clutching forms and dragging a bewildered if not traumatized kid. This after having subjected your darling to distressing sessions of one of the numerous teaching shops that have mushroomed.
So when a petition was made to the High Court about setting a child friendly admission process we were all relieved. But the feeling was short lived as the point system proposed seemed far from clear and open to many interpretations. The one that caught my attention was the fact that interaction with parents was allowed but not interviews. I wonder who will decide if the lines have been crossed. I cannot see desperate parents getting drawn into a semantic or linguistic battle!
One of the parameters stood out: proximity to the school. In it I could almost sense an imperceptible step towards the common school, something I have always held as a solution to many of the problems that plague us.
Nursery admissions in the capital’s municipal school is still fairly easy. here the problem lies in convincing the parents. A quick perusal of any part of our city shows that it is dotted with government run schools – notwithstanding the state they are in – and all have ample land around them.
Children should be able walk to their school. Imagine if that were true: no buses or rushing RTVs, no long hours spent commuting…
What a dream
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by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 7, 2006 | ghaziabad girls
In recent days we have witnessed many convictions of high profile people. yesterday the Supreme Court passed a landmark judgment stating that no permission is needed to prosecute public servants charged with corruption case.
Most of the aforementioned cases have come to close because of public outcry. And with new tools such as the Right to Information Act, we are inching towards a day where corruption will be hopefully contained.
Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear the cases of the 40 odd little girls who were rescued their tormentor barely a week ago. A week has gone by and they are yesterday’s news, the media has moved on. These girls do not have mothers, or friends, or fathers to fight for them and get the justice. Their abuser does have supporters or a least the money require to hire some!
Yet these almost invisible souls need a voice and only we can give them one. Some may say that they are many more such cases and maybe they are right, but that does not give us the right to hide behind indifference. If the medical reports tomorrow do not mention sexual abuse, then the case is almost lost.
This case is not just about these girls, the very ones that their abuser dismissed with contempt, but it is to seek justice for all those girls who were in that ashram before them and seem to have gone missing, and for all the girls who are being abused.
Rescuing the girls was just the beginning of a long journey. On the one hand these little girls have to be rehabilitated and knowing the realities of many of the state and government run centres, one has to think beyond that. Remember there are young girls, small ones and challenged ones, each having specific needs. They all carry deep scars, that need to be healed with love and care. On the other hand the abuser needs to be nailed. let us not forget that no matter what transpires, one cannot forget the abysmal conditions they lived in.
We need to do whatever we can. Please joing our signature campaign and add your voice to ours
We hope and pray that justice will be done.
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