Recently, 108 children lost their lives in Muzzafarpur, Bihar because of AES or acute encephalitis. As per reports, the children contracted the disease because they consumed lychees that had toxic substances.
And now, actor Renuka Shahane shared a post on Facebook stating that what really killed these innocent children was not the toxic fruit, but starvation or malnourishment.
She commented on how the children were in a situation similar to Sophie’s choice – where they either had the option to satiate their hunger but through harmful substances, or give up their life to starvation.
And in such a situation, according to her, the real blame lies on the lack of adequate facilities and our general apathy for the impoverished section of the society.
Is there a cure for hunger? Isn’t that the root of the problem? Yes, we dismiss the tragedy because it is the poor who are dying. We ignore the human tragedy of it because they are not like us! If one of our children gets even a minor scratch in school we are outraged. Our sympathy and empathy dry up however when it is about very poor kids.
Her impassioned post talks finding a solution not just for India’s rising hunger problem, but also for our lack of ‘compassion and empathy’.
You can read the complete post here:
It’s truly a sad state of affairs when we can’t offer those in need adequate nutrition or healthcare, but rather leave them at the mercy of nature – and nature is not always kind.