On pan-India march, activist calls for protection of women

RK Kichlu

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Ramban, April 23

On a 3,800-km “padyatra” from Kanyakumari to Srinagar, Srishti Bakshi crossed over to the Kashmir valley through the 2.5-km-long Jawahar Tunnel on the 222nd day of her mission on Monday after traversing through the Jammu province.

She has so far covered 3,680 km with an average distance of 30 km per day and crossed 12 states. So far, she has held about 100 workshops and met more than 65,000 people on her way. During one such workshop at the degree college here on April 21, she apprised students and faculty members about her NGO Cross Bow Miles and her mission through a PowerPoint presentation. She involved students in various activities and made girls share their experiences.

Shaken by the National Highway 91 (Delhi-Kanpur highway) gang rape on August 1, 2016, Srishti had founded the NGO,Cross Bow Miles in 2016 and vowed to contribute her bit in making India a safer country for women.

On the last leg of her “padyatra”, her father Lt Gen (retd.) AK Bakshi and mother, too, have joined her team of 16, including four helpers here. Her husband Harish Waziran also joins her occasionally from Hong Kong where she is settled. “My mission is to mobilise communities to make India a safer country for girls and women, sensitising people about the gender divide in the country and encouraging women empowerment with digital and financial literacy,” she said.

“I was moved by frequent rapes in India and the country’s negative image due to this reason around the world,” she added. She is expected to end her “padyatra” in Srinagar on April 30. After that, she will submit her report and recommendations to the National Commission for Women and Union Ministry for Women and Child Development.