JAMMU: A viral video circulating on several social media platforms shows students of Jodhamal Public School, Jammu, being threatened by a biker, which has raised serious concerns about the violation of child rights with impunity and the safety of school-going students.
In the video uploaded on YouTube and Instagram with the caption “Biker confronts school kids after they call him ‘Chhapri’, a guy was seen intimidating young kids, teachers, and supporting staff after allegedly being taunted by students as Chhapri.
In the context of Indian culture, “Chhapri” refers to young, reckless motorcyclists who derive peculiar pleasure from disobeying traffic rules by riding rashly to impress others through recording and uploading acts of stupidity on social media platforms.
Flagging the matter as a devilish act that indeed exposed minor students featured in the video to online trolling and mental agony, a female Political Science student of Delhi University, who also happens to be an alumna of JMPS, Jammu, in a missive to the SSP of Jammu, has urged the police authorities for the immediate removal of the undesired video from social media platforms and to initiate action under the law against the identified YouTuber who exploited young kids for earning views and personal gains in contravention of laws enacted for the protection of children.
Demand for intervention by the district administration in this matter was made by a social reformer who remained associated with the Juvenile Justice Board. She said, “The act of filming and uploading the video of students on social media platforms, besides being a source of mental agony, explicitly deforms the personality of young students at a budding stage. The misdemeanor of uploading the video is in contravention of the law framed to protect child rights, which warrants action against the accused under relevant sections of the law.” She added that showing laxity on such incidents would prove fatal for the effective implementation and supervision of child rights in the Union Territory of J&K.
The District Magistrate acts as the nodal officer for child rights, overseeing the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) and ensuring the implementation of child protection measures and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
Many civil society members have termed the act of biker as concocted, purportedly designed with ill will to create content for social media. “This is a new technique to record videos merely to broaden the base among social media platforms at the cost of bullying innocent students,” averred Rajeshwar Singh Jamwal, a senior citizen and RTI activist.
Evidently, in the video, the guy has committed serious crime by forcefully halting a school bus and then threatening students. If, he really was hooted at by students, he can projected his grievances in a lawful manner by informing the school management. But, here all intentions was to create social media stuff for enhancing views. These vagabonds are a threat to society and need to be treated with an iron hand, he added.