“I am not ready to accept that I am untouchable. I am just a citizen of this nation like everyone else, a human being” says Karamveer Bezwada Wilson on Kaun Banega Crorepati 12

MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television’s Kaun Banega Crorepati 12 is all set to welcome Bezwada Wilson, Founder of Safai Karamchari Andolan, for Karamveer special episode this Friday. Bezwada Wilson has been fighting against manual scavenging and rehabilitation of manual scavengers, since 34 years. Champion Annup Sonii, a renowned anchor from Sony TV’s show Crime Patrol will be seen supporting human rights activist, Ramon Magsaysay and Ashoka Fellow awardee, Bezwada Wilson on the show for his noble cause this Friday, 30th October.

Bezwada Wilson was born in Kolar Gold Fields in Karnataka and belonged to the manual scavenging community. He saw many children dropping out of school who then picked up manual scavenging. Talking about the same he said, “I was 13 when I discovered that my parents and my brother picked human waste for a living. That was a shocking revelation for me. My friends in school would tease me. When I asked my parents what they did for a living they would try to hide it from me. But when I finally became sure of our background, I wanted to die!”. Since then, he has been fighting this demeaning profession, to remove it from the roots and wants to make sure that every last person involved in manual scavenging quits this profession.

Bezwada Wilson also mentioned, “Picking up dirt even for one day is very tough. Every year around 200 people die due to the illness while scavenging. Bacche hamare saath hi khelne wale bolte hai ki aap ‘bhangi’ hai, and they don’t even know what the meaning of bhangi is. No human being is happy to accept that they are untouchable. I have not chosen to be a bhangi but ‘you’ (people of this nation) have made me a scavenger. Till date, I am not ready to accept that I am untouchable. I am just a citizen of this nation like everyone else, a human being.”