Let’s March ! | Class 10th English | Question answer |
Read the passage and answer the following question.
My dear children of the world ... Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies, distinguished
members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, dear brother Tom Harkin, brothers and sisters, and my
dear daughter Malala. From this podium of peace and humanity, I am
deeply honoured to recite a mantra from the ancient texts of wisdom, Vedas. This mantra carries a prayer,
an aspiration and a resolve that has the potential to liberate humanity from all man-made crises. Let’s walk together. In the pursuit of global
progress, not a single person should be left out or
left behind in any corner of the world, from East to
West, from South to North.
Let’s speak together, let our minds come together! Learning from the experiences of our ancestors, letus together create knowledge for all that benefits all. I bow to my late parents, to my motherland
India, and to the mother earth. With a warm heart I recall how thousands of
times, I have been liberated, each time I have freed
a child from slavery. In the first smile of freedom
on their beautiful faces, I see the Gods smiling. unable to do that. Because, I am representing here
- the sound of silence. The cry of innocence. And,
the face of invisibility. I represent millions of those
children who are left behind and that’s why I have
kept an empty chair here as a reminder.
I have come here only to share the voices and
dreams of our children -because they are all our
children - [gesture to everyone in the audience]. I
have looked into their frightened and exhausted eyes.
I have held their injured bodies and felt their broken spirits.
Twenty years ago, in the foothills of the
Himalayas, I met a small, skinny child labourer. He asked me: “Is the world so poor that it cannot give
me a toy and a book, instead of forcing me to take a gun or a tool?” I met with a Sudanese child-soldier. He was kidnapped by an extremist militia. As his first training lesson, he was forced to kill his friends and family. He asked me: “What is my fault?”
Friends, all the great religions teach us to care
for our children. Jesus said: “Let the children come
to me; do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God
belongs to them.” The Holy Quran says: “Kill not
your children because of poverty.”
Friends! There is no greater violence than to
deny the dreams of our children. Therefore ... I refuse
to accept that all the temples and mosques and
churches and prayer houses have no place for the
dreams of our children.
I refuse to accept that the world is so poor, when
just one week of global military expenditure can bring all the children to classrooms.
I refuse to accept that all the laws and
constitutions, police and judges are unable to protect
our children.
I refuse to accept that the shackles of slavery
can ever be stronger than the quest for freedom. I REFUSE TO ACCEPT here.
I give the biggest credit of this honour to my
movement’s Kaalu Kumar, Dhoom Das and Adarsh Kishore from India and Iqbal Masih from Pakistan who made the supreme sacrifice for protecting the freedom and dignity of children. I humbly accept this
award on behalf of all such martyrs, my fellow activists across the world and my countrymen.
My journey from the great land of Lord Buddha,
Guru Nanak and Mahatma Gandhi; India to Norway is a connect between the two centres of global peace
and brotherhood, ancient and modern.
Friends, the Nobel Committee has generously
invited me to present a “lecture.” Respectfully, I amunable to do that. Because, I am representing here
- the sound of silence. The cry of innocence. And, the face of invisibility. I represent millions of those children who are left behind and that’s why I have kept an empty chair here as a reminder.
I have come here only to share the voices and
dreams of our children - because they are all our children - [gesture to everyone in the audience]. I have looked into their frightened and exhausted eyes. I have held their injured bodies and felt their broken spirits. Twenty years ago, in the foothills of the Himalayas, I met a small, skinny child labourer. He asked me: “Is the world so poor that it cannot give me a toy and a book, instead of forcing me to take a gun or a tool?”
I met with a Sudanese child-soldier. He was
kidnapped by an extremist militia. As his first training lesson, he was forced to kill his friends and family.
He asked me: “What is my fault?”
Friends, all the great religions teach us to care
for our children. Jesus said: “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to them.” The Holy Quran says: “Kill not your children because of poverty.”
Friends! There is no greater violence than to
deny the dreams of our children. Therefore ... I refuse to accept that all the temples and mosques and churches and prayer houses have no place for the dreams of our children.
I refuse to accept that the world is so poor, when just one week of global military expenditure can bring all the children to classrooms. I refuse to accept that all the laws and constitutions, police and judges are unable to protect our children.
I refuse to accept that the shackles of slavery
can ever be stronger than the quest for freedom. I REFUSE TO ACCEPT here.
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