Family members of organ donors, transgender, and well-know Kannad actress on Wednesday joined the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra which continued to receive participation from various quarters and civil society groups.
The Congress roped in hundreds of family members of organ donors on Wednesday to highlight organ donation when the yatra was passing through Chitradurga district.
Members of the transgender community of Karnataka met Rahul and shared their stories with him, while highlighting the need for generating employment for them. They also spoke about the need for a new transgender policy at national level which will provide them job opportunities based on their education.
The Congress said 33 “yatris” marching with Rahul pledged their eyes for
donation.
The organ donors, whose family members walked with Rahul, were: late National Film Award-winning Best Actor Sanchari Vijay who died in a motorcycle accident; Rakshitha, a PUC student from Chikkamagaluru district, who suffered a head injury after falling off a bus; and Veda Manjunath, who had an accident on the Hubballi-Dharwad bypass Highway.
Later in a post on his Facebook page, Rahul said he had the privilege of walking with the brave-heart families of these organ donors, and they personify resilience, empathy, and humanity.
“It was not their age to go. Rakshitha, Veda and Vijay went too soon. Even in death, they gifted meaning and happiness to others by donating their organs to save lives. A beautiful gesture of love and sacrifice! It is the human spirit of care and compassion that we must nurture and cherish. It is too precious to be lost to the hateful and greedy ploys of a few,” Rahul said in his post.
Noting that Kannada thespian late Dr Rajkumar and his late actor-son Puneeth Rajkumar’s similar selfless acts of donating their eyes inspired millions of Kannadigas and others, and raised awareness on the importance of organ donation, Rahul said.
“I feel immensely proud to tell you all that 33 Bharat Yatris have pledged to donate their eyes from this beautiful land of Karnataka,” he said.
Talking to Rahul, a transgender woman Riana Rajo said, “The Government does not understand what a transgender community is. Transgenders have been suffering a lot and they have been pushed to sex work for survival. The Government needs to provide us with work opportunities and create employment for us. Otherwise, the suffering is going to continue for generations.”
“I was thrown out of my school in the 10th standard when I complained about a sexual harassment by my seniors. The management told me to change my walking style and behaviour. I was later removed from the school and for living, I had to beg or choose sex work,” Rajo said.
Rahul told the transgenders that the ruling BJP and its parent outfit, RSS, have always been against the transgender community. The Congress leader also agreed that there is a need to bring equality among all the sections of society.
In his last one month of padyatra crossing Tamil Nadu, Kerala and now Karnataka, Rahul has been joined by members from several segments of the society including, students, farmers, miners, members of some victims like Gauri Lankesh etc