Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi vows to struggle for Kashmiri children

Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi while addressing a gathering of students in Srinagar vowed to make all efforts to ensure the safety of Kashmiri children.

"I will make appeals and prayers for you and need be, I will struggle too, provided you stay away from violence." Satyarthi was born in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh.

He urged the children in Jammu and Kashmir to stay away from violence and said "together, we will win this battle".

Satyarthi, who is on his "Bharat Yatra" to spread awareness about crimes against children reached Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.

He addressed students drawn from various schools. "I will knock the doors of governments in Delhi and in Srinagar. Tell them to allow children to study and rise as high as they can," he said at the gathering.

Without naming separatists and militants who are spreading unrest and violence in the Valley, he urged them to not use children to achieve their goals.

"Children...can achieve everything with education. They are your children and our children too," he said.

Last week, he held several programmes in Uttar Pradesh. He had begun his Yatra from Kanyakumari.

After completing an electrical engineering degree, he worked as a teacher. In 1980, he left teaching and founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan, which has freed thousands of children from slave-like conditions.

He said nearly nine lakh people have taken the pledge to fight child abuse. "Our target was 10 lakh but we are going to cross 12 lakh. One crore people have taken the pledge online," he said.

(With PTI Inputs)