Who deserves Nobel prize and who doesn't that's an issue for debate. Here, I don't want to dwell on that. At this moment, I just want to recall an incident, which the recent announcement of Nobel Peace Prize has brought back to my memory.
It was 2004 and I was the Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express newspaper, in Lucknow. Bachpan Bachao Andolan had planned to raid the Grand Circus which was running in district Gonda, Uttar Pradesh state. The circus was keeping about 12 adolescent girls from Nepal. Apart from making them work in the circus, the owners (two brothers from Meerut) were sexually exploiting these girls as well.
As planned we reached the circus pretending to be just a group of journalists willing to understand the circus life. All was well for initial hour or so before 3-4 of us women journalists tried to probe and locate the girls. The circus owners had shoved the girls in a corner and asked them to not come out till the guests were there.
However, the journalists' probing eyes found them. But before we could talk to the girls and get an idea about their plight what they are going through, we heard some ruckus at the front. Before we could realise what was happening, one of the owners came running towards us flashing a pistol.
We saw that everyone was running helter skelter. The owner shouted, "close the gates, don't let anyone go out". We started running towards the gate and what we saw was horrifying. Some journalists could make it and escaped out but some of them were trying to quickly go out of gates and save their lives.
Their effort resulted in their trashing. I still remember a foreign journalist who was beaten and her camera was smashed! It was a shocking incident!
So those who were left inside (including me) decided to stay in and face the situation. A colleague of Kailash Satyarthi, Rama Kant Rai was with us and he also stayed back.
Although a bit scared I was also enjoying the situation as for a journalists such situations are good stories! We had no idea if we would be able to go out in the free world or not!
A few of us who were left inside the circus were trying to have a talk with the owner who was not ready to listen to anyone but stressing on killing everyone then and there.
Suddenly we realised there was police force outside, led by the Superintendent of Police (SP) Gonda, Amitabh Thakur. The gates were opened and the first thing Amitabh Thakur asked was, "Where is Alka Pande". I came forward surprised as this was my first meeting with him. He specially asked me, "Are you alright madame?" Perplexed, I said, "Now, yes, since you are here".
The police then got the girls from the circus released and all of us were also freed. The circus owner brothers stayed in jail for quite some time.
How the police reached the place, I came to know later on. My photographer Vishal Srivastav had managed to go out before the situation had become tense inside the circus. He had made an intelligent move and had called the then editor of The Indian Express, Mr Raman Kirpal, in Lucknow, who had immediately contacted the Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh and had informed him about what was going on in Gonda. He had also told the DGP about me - the Indian Express correspondent and that explained why Amitabh Thakur was asking for my welfare.
That incident was one of those several ones which people who supported Kailash Satyarthi, were involved in and therefore we all must feel as part of the Nobel Peace Prize!!!
It was 2004 and I was the Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express newspaper, in Lucknow. Bachpan Bachao Andolan had planned to raid the Grand Circus which was running in district Gonda, Uttar Pradesh state. The circus was keeping about 12 adolescent girls from Nepal. Apart from making them work in the circus, the owners (two brothers from Meerut) were sexually exploiting these girls as well.
As planned we reached the circus pretending to be just a group of journalists willing to understand the circus life. All was well for initial hour or so before 3-4 of us women journalists tried to probe and locate the girls. The circus owners had shoved the girls in a corner and asked them to not come out till the guests were there.
However, the journalists' probing eyes found them. But before we could talk to the girls and get an idea about their plight what they are going through, we heard some ruckus at the front. Before we could realise what was happening, one of the owners came running towards us flashing a pistol.
We saw that everyone was running helter skelter. The owner shouted, "close the gates, don't let anyone go out". We started running towards the gate and what we saw was horrifying. Some journalists could make it and escaped out but some of them were trying to quickly go out of gates and save their lives.
Their effort resulted in their trashing. I still remember a foreign journalist who was beaten and her camera was smashed! It was a shocking incident!
So those who were left inside (including me) decided to stay in and face the situation. A colleague of Kailash Satyarthi, Rama Kant Rai was with us and he also stayed back.
Although a bit scared I was also enjoying the situation as for a journalists such situations are good stories! We had no idea if we would be able to go out in the free world or not!
A few of us who were left inside the circus were trying to have a talk with the owner who was not ready to listen to anyone but stressing on killing everyone then and there.
Suddenly we realised there was police force outside, led by the Superintendent of Police (SP) Gonda, Amitabh Thakur. The gates were opened and the first thing Amitabh Thakur asked was, "Where is Alka Pande". I came forward surprised as this was my first meeting with him. He specially asked me, "Are you alright madame?" Perplexed, I said, "Now, yes, since you are here".
The police then got the girls from the circus released and all of us were also freed. The circus owner brothers stayed in jail for quite some time.
How the police reached the place, I came to know later on. My photographer Vishal Srivastav had managed to go out before the situation had become tense inside the circus. He had made an intelligent move and had called the then editor of The Indian Express, Mr Raman Kirpal, in Lucknow, who had immediately contacted the Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh and had informed him about what was going on in Gonda. He had also told the DGP about me - the Indian Express correspondent and that explained why Amitabh Thakur was asking for my welfare.
That incident was one of those several ones which people who supported Kailash Satyarthi, were involved in and therefore we all must feel as part of the Nobel Peace Prize!!!
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