Bravery award winner writes to CJI to stop children from attending protests

Days after the death of an infant at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh protests, a twelve-year-old National Bravery Award winner has written to Chief Justice of India S A Bobde seeking directions to prevent children from participating in demonstrations as it "amounts to cruelty".

Zen Gunratan Sadavarte, a recipient of the 2019 Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) National Bravery Award, has said in a letter to the Office of the CJI that the parents of the four-month-old baby and the organisers of the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh "failed" to protect the rights of the kid, resulting in his death.

Mohammed Jahaan, the third son of the parents who live in Batla House area, passed away in his sleep on the night of January 30 after returning from the protests at Shaheen Bagh.

PTI was the first to speak to the mother of the infant who died due to severe cold and congestion following exposure to the winter chill at the outdoor Shaheen Bagh demonstrations.

Sadavarte, a student of Class 7 from Mumbai, also alleged that the protesters at Shaheen Bagh include infants and children, who are exposed to conditions unfavourable to them, which is violation of their rights.

"The Shaheen Bagh protesters at New Delhi, include women, senior citizens, newborns and children, ignoring the fact that new born babies need a lot of attention and care as they cannot express their pains in particulars thereafter also ignoring the conditions unfavourable to the children, they are brought to the protest place which is violative of their child rights and natural justice," the letter said.

The letter also alleged that the police failed in stopping children from participating in such agitations harmful to their health.

It expressed surprise over the fact that even the death certificate of the four-month-old does not mention the cause of death.

Sadavarte also released the letter to media outlets in Mumbai, claiming that the incident was a violation of the infant's right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

She received the National Bravery Award for guiding 17 people to safety when a fire broke out at Parel's Crystal Tower.