New Delhi: Making a strong pitch for passage of a pending legislation against child labour, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Sunday said history "won't forgive" the MPs if they fail in the task.
"I want to make an earnest appeal to all Parliamentarians, and also to other leaders to facilitate the passage of the key legislation failing which history and children of India won't forgive them," Satyarthi said at a press conference here after his return from Oslo where he was conferred the Nobel Peace Prize.
Satyarthi said he wants child labour to go into the "pages of history". "Gandhiji turned truth, non-violence and peace into a mass movement. My appeal is to turn compassion into a mass movement. Let us globalise compassion," the Nobel laureate added.
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment (CLPRA) Bill, if passed, will prohibit employment of children below 14 years in any occupation, bringing the law in consistency with the Right to Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009.
Earlier, Satyarthi accompanied by his wife Sumedha, visited Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Rajghat where they paid homage to the father of the nation.
"The most important thing that I have imbibed from the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, is that he has successfully been able to transform a political movement into a social movement. Likewise, friends, I urge all of you to transform the compassion for children into a global movement. Today, we need to globalise compassion," said Satyarthi.
Satyarthi said that he was grateful for the vibrant democracy of the country, the judiciary for landmark judgements and the media for their continued support. And that the Nobel Peace prize has brought upon tremendous moral responsibility on him and on the people of India to "raise your voice whenever you see a child in distress."
With input from agencies
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