|
New
Delhi, June 7: If Amitabh
is feeling the heat, so is good friend Amar.
The
National Human Rights Commission today asked the Uttar
Pradesh government to pay Rs 5,000 each to 49 children
who fainted while being made to wait in the sun to
welcome Amar Singh and Jayaprada on Gandhi Jayanti
in Kanpur in 2005.
“Forcing children to sit in the scorching sun
for six long hours is blatant violation of human rights
and the state government should pay token relief to
the affected to prevent recurrence,” the commission
said. It also condemned the practice of using schoolchildren
as “showpieces” during VIP visits.
Amar’s Samajwadi Party
is no longer in power in Uttar Pradesh but the Mayavati
government is expected to use the order to rub salt
into his wounds.
The
commission noted that children, who should be handled
with “care and affection”, had been made
to wait without arrangements for first-aid or transport.
By
the time Amar and Jayaprada arrived — they were
late by three hours — 49 children had fainted. |
