Bharat Ki Baat Touches Upon Social Justice This Weekend With Pallavi Joshi!

Pallavi Joshi, anchored Bharat Ki Baat, veers towards more complex issues like Social Justice for its upcoming episodes. In a diverse country like India social justice becomes the life-blood of the society which keeps the country of billions together. The 26-part show, Directed by Vivek Agnihotri is a positive narrative on India glorious past, ever developing present and a positive outlook into her future.

The show talks about social justice through an eclectic mix of unsung heroes, who have shown utmost resilience in their environments, bounced back from social evils and instead of playing the victim card have risen above the occasion to work for their immediate environment and bring about a positive change.  The topic is broken down into two parts and will run over two episodes- Episode 10 & 11 over 9th & 10 February on Network 18 channels.

Talking about the episodes, Vivek Agnihotri, Director, Bharat Ki Baat, stated, “National integration is impossible without social justice. Social justice means that in the society the citizens must interact and treat one another on the basis of equality. No one should consider others as inferior to themselves on the grounds of religion, race, color, caste or sex, leading to unity of India. We have covered some brilliant human interest stories which will shake you up to the core. These are the real people of India and their gumption is salute worthy”.

Sitavva Joddati from Belgaum who given up as a Devdasi at the age of 7 bounced back to fight the system through her NGO MASS (Mahila Abhivrudhi Mattu Samrakshana Samasthe) and rigorous training programs to fight the evil. Kriti Bharti of Ratanada who has faced multiple hurdles since childhood, even poisoned so that she would discontinue her education is now doing her PhD in Child Protection and Safety. Through her outfit Saarthi Trust, she has stopped over 1000 child marriages and annulled over 150 marriages involving underage boys and girls. The stories of these women are featured in these episodes.

Stories of Nipun Malhotra & A. S. Narayan who are fighting for disability in New Delhi form a significant part of the show. The Delhi High Court agreed to list a PIL filed by disability rights seeking the official recognition of Indian Sign Language (ISL), for hearing. For India’s Deaf community, this is one step closer towards having their only method of real-time communication officially recognized by the Indian state. Voice of LGBT, puppeteer Varun Narain from New Delhi makes his way to Bharat ki Baat as well. The Delhi-based gay activist and professional puppeteer use the living and interactive medium to open conversations about bold and taboo topics for the masses. From nightclubs to pubs, national fashion weeks to brothels, villages in rural districts to slums in cities, his life-sized puppets made of upcycled material have travelled the world. Lastly, Prakash Amte, a Social Worker from Hemalkasa narrates his story too on the show. Son of Baba Amte, Prakash and his wife, Mandakini Amte, were awarded the Magsaysay Award for 'Community Leadership in 2008 for their philanthropic work in Mahrashtra and Telengana. The episodes also showcase the Statue of Unity as the symbolism of Unity despite all the challenges we face.

“From LGBT rights to child marriage, disabilities to even more niche issues like Devdasi that exist in our society have been covered over two episodes on Social Justice on our show. Issues are inevitable. We are talking about a vast country with so many diverse communities and it cannot be sheer eutopia. If our homes and families can be riddled with problems it’s only logical to accept that a country will have its own issues too. But what makes us magnanimous is how we deal with these issues. We have featured some brave and forward thinking individuals who have been countering multiple social evils on an everyday basis with a smiling face. Their stories are nothing short of inspiring. In the confines of our comfortable homes, it is always easy to comment on shortcomings, especially when most of it does not even touch us. While these people are roughing it out everyday. Their positivity is infectious and absolutely in line with what Bharat ki Baat stands for. We are featuring not only various social issues of the country but the people fighting against those social injustice. We need these people even more cause its not that we don’t have a sound judiciary but people often flout laws and perpetrate these social evils in a clandestine manner, in a scenario as such we need more and more of these heroes to come out and work in their communities ”, quips Pallavi Joshi, actor and anchor.

Bharat Ki Baat is telecast at 10am every Saturday and Sunday only on News18 India, along with News18 UP, News18 MP, News18 Punjab, News18 Rajasthan, News18 Bihar and News18 Urdu.