A MEDAL & GLORY FOR 21 BRAVEHEARTS
From taking on the curse of child marriage to jumping into a pond for saving a kid, this years winners stand out ……..Neha Pushkarna
From taking on the curse of child marriage to jumping into a pond for saving a kid, this years winners stand out ……..Neha Pushkarna
Afsana Khatun did the unthinkable when she refused to get married last year. At 14 (or 15, her mother is not sure), she has started a movement against child marriage in West Bengals Purulia district. Afsana, along with her two friends, now organise workshops and counsel parents to stop marrying off their daughters before they turn 18. In a village where girls were only supposed to raise a family, her courage has changed lives.
Afsana is one of the 21 courageous children who will be given the National Bravery Award, 2009, by the Prime Minister in the capital this year. They will also participate in the Republic Day parade. The recipients include eight girls and 13 boys from remote villages of the country. Two of the awards will be given posthumously.
I did not want to marry at any cost. So I had no choice but to convince my parents, said Afsana who was in the city with her parents on Monday. She started going to school only two years ago and has pledged not to get
married till she becomes a doctor.
married till she becomes a doctor.
Now that we have a school in our village, I might as well study. Girls in our village get married even before they turn 12. Parents have to give a dowry of up to Rs 50,000 in cash and also gold ornaments. Some of them also want a fridge. I dont want all these problems, said Afsana, who now studies in Class V, but earlier used make soan halwa as a daily wager. Her two friendsSunita Mahato and Rekha Kalindiare also being awarded for showing exemplary courage and resisting societal pressure to give up studies and get married. They used to roll bidis to earn a livelihood, but now study in Class IV and also campaign against child marriage.
The reforms triggered by them are now being taken forward by district authorities. Its because of these girls that cases of child marriage have come down by 50% in the district in the last year. We always made efforts but these girls made it happen by setting an example and counselling elders, said the districts assistant labour commissioner Prosenjit Kundu.
Such impressive tales of valour are abound in every corner of the country. Take 10-year-old Maibam Prity for instance. She saved several lives last March by picking up a hand grenade hurled at her parents shop and disposing it of in the open. My wife was inside the shop when a grenade fell inside our grocery shop in the Mayang Imphal Bazar. Prity picked up the grenade and threw it outside saving her mother and three customers, said M Sharat, the proud father. The shops in the market are made of wood and an explosion could have caused a fire. Eight persons were injured while she also received two splinters in her knees. One of them is still stuck there but I am happy she averted a major disaster, he said. Prity has got the Geeta Chopra award for her bravery.
The youngest of the lot is eight-year-old Thoi Thoi Khumanthem from Manipur. She had jumped into a pond to save a four-year-old boy from drowning even though she didnt know how to swim. It was April 15, 2009, when I saw a pair of shoes floating in the water. I jumped into the pond and fished out the boy, she said. She herself swallowed some water and was given first-aid by her mother who is a doctor. Khumanthem, too, wants to become a doctor. Their dreams should come true as the Indian Council for Child Welfare is granting financial assistance to all of them for schooling and further studies.
Profiles In Courage
* Gaurav Singh Saini, 13
Was standing on the hillside when rumour of a landslide caused a stampede at Naina Devi temple. Gaurav first pulled up a child with the help of a barbed wire to a safe place on the hill. He eventually rescued more than 50 people. He will receive the Bharat Award
Was standing on the hillside when rumour of a landslide caused a stampede at Naina Devi temple. Gaurav first pulled up a child with the help of a barbed wire to a safe place on the hill. He eventually rescued more than 50 people. He will receive the Bharat Award
* Karan Nishad, 11
Dived into Saryu river in Gorakhpur to fish out a woman and her four children who had tried to commit suicide. He brought them to the bank and villagers administered them first aid. He will receive the Sanjay Chopra award
Dived into Saryu river in Gorakhpur to fish out a woman and her four children who had tried to commit suicide. He brought them to the bank and villagers administered them first aid. He will receive the Sanjay Chopra award
* Dijekshon Syiem, 10
Entered a burning house on hearing the cries of a boy in west Khasi Hill district in Meghalaya. He found the four-year-old under the bed, brought him out safely but himself fell unconscious
Entered a burning house on hearing the cries of a boy in west Khasi Hill district in Meghalaya. He found the four-year-old under the bed, brought him out safely but himself fell unconscious
* Narendrasinh Natwarsinh Solanki, 17
Punched a crocodile in its eyes to rescue his father from its jaws at Amod district in Gujarat. The injured crocodile immediately let go of the man. The boy screamed for help and passers-by took his father to the hospital
* GRITTY LOT: (Top) The children pose for a group photograph; (Left) All of 8, Thoi Thoi Khumanthem, one of the youngest recipients of the award, had jumped into a pond to save a 4-year-old from drowning even though she didnt know how to swim; (Left below) Bengal teen Afsana has started a movement against child marriage
Punched a crocodile in its eyes to rescue his father from its jaws at Amod district in Gujarat. The injured crocodile immediately let go of the man. The boy screamed for help and passers-by took his father to the hospital
* GRITTY LOT: (Top) The children pose for a group photograph; (Left) All of 8, Thoi Thoi Khumanthem, one of the youngest recipients of the award, had jumped into a pond to save a 4-year-old from drowning even though she didnt know how to swim; (Left below) Bengal teen Afsana has started a movement against child marriage