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Stars, and actors often become heroes for people. The persona behind the reels more often than not becomes heroes, an inspiring figure for people and persons in real life. With their contribution towards social work, they become harbingers of peace, and hope for many. In a similar hope, Pragya Prasun Singh, an acid attack survivor tweeted to the superstar Shah Rukh Khan about one of her many ordeals that she and many like her have to deal with. In an exclusive conversation with india.com, Pragya divulged into the details about the challenge she faced while simply trying to open her bank account. She talked about the nuances of the problems acid survivors face in every- day life and why precisely she reached out to Shah Rukh Khan.
While Pragya tweeted with a sense of hope to Shah Rukh Khan, she also had a little fear if things would be perceived in a wrong manner given the domain of social media. She said, ” Mere pass yahi ek bahut bada hope tha kyunki mujhe pata tha ki unke dil mai ek special empathy hai acid attack survivors ke liye. Toh unka foundation ya who sunegein or help karenge. Shah Rukh Khan se ummed thi lekin ek dar bhi tha ki koi galat angle na nikal le about this.”
Pragya Prasun is a recipient of Naari Shakti Puraskar by President Ram Nath Kovind. She also runs her own foundation called Atijeevan which works for rehabilitation and welfare of acid attack survivors.
Living every day, every hour is a struggle in itself but Pragya gets up every day to overcome every moment of it. On July 12, Pragya tweeted to SRK’s account narrating her ordeal. She tweeted, “It’s my right too to be able to open a bank account,” Pragya said in a tweet, tagging SRK and his Meer Foundation. She added, “Being an acid attack survivor should not prohibit me from living a life with dignity. It’s unjust that I was denied a bank acct just because I can’t blink for the KYC process. Requesting @iamsrk @MeerFoundation to help me make this world inclusive for all acid attack survivors #iwontblink” (sic).”
Meer Foundation is run by SRK in the name of his father that works for the welfare of acid attack survivors. When asked, why she particularly chose to reach out to SRK and his foundation, Pragya said, “Meer Foundation Atijeevan foundation ke sath associated hai. Shah Rukh’s foundation has helped us to rehabilitate several survivors. Mujhe ye pata hai ki Shah Rukh Khan ko ek empathy hai acid attack survivors ke taraf.”
Adding on to why she decided to take this step, Pragya said,” Iss hope se maine tweet kiya tha ki koi toh sunega. Koi toh sunne wala hai. Ek special gratitude hai unke liye hamesha se. Peechla 8-9 saalon maine dekha unhone kaise support kiya hai hume, and baki survivors ko bhi.
We further discussed on how Meer foundation helped them and asked if she has ever met him in person. To this the acid attack survivor said that while she has not personally met him but she knows many survivors who have met SRK. She said, “ Bahut sare survivors mile hai unse. Sabke paas yahi jawab hota hai ki who bahut hi humble insane hai. Sab unke liye bahut gratitude rakhte hai.”
In praise of Bollywood one of the most favourite actors (and very rightly so) Prasun also mentioned how SRK has created a safe space for acid survivors where they get the support to move ahead in life.
Social media has become a forum to express opinions as well as a place to resort to redressals. Similarly, Pragya aimed to become the voice and elevated the problem to social media to gauge the attention of the mass public. “Himmat krni thi kyunki mujhe reach out karna hai logo ko or batane hai humari problems ke baare mai. Agar main nhi dalungi social media per toh main nhi pahunch paungi logo take, nhi bol paoungi ki mere jaise or kafi survivors hai jinhe daily life mai aise problems hote hain,” said Pragya teary eyed.
It is a matter of a day or few hours for everyone else to get their KYC done, it takes 1 week or more for Pragya and acid survivors. The fact their eyes cannot blink makes them unable to open bank accounts, get new sim cards and more.
People like Pragya and celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan only prove that there is still a ray of hope in people, there is still that spark that can marshall changes in the system.
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