Child panel asks parents to not take kids to Lucknow protest site, warns of ‘action’

Protesters at Ghanta Ghar on Monday. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav/File)

As the women-led protest at Lucknow’s Ghantaghar entered the second week on Wednesday, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of Lucknow issued a “notice” to the protesting parents, asking them not to bring their children to the protest site “as it violates Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2015”.

While “ordering” the parents to “immediately send back their children to their houses from the protest site so that their normal routine could continue”, the statement issued by CWC (Lucknow) Chairman Kuldeep Ranjan and four of the panel’s members warned of action, including imprisonment up to three years if they fail to comply with the notice.

“As per the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2015, anyone who is below 18 years will be called a child, and CWC has to work so that their childhood, education and health can be taken care of. In connection to this, the CWC orders that families which are protesting at the site along with their children should immediately send back their children to their houses,” the statement read.

Earlier, The Indian Express had reported that police in Muzaffarnagar invoked a stringent provision of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 — almost a month after it booked 107 people — and claimed that protesters used children “for illegal activity”. Section 83 (2) of the JJ Act was invoked against at least 33 accused named in an FIR.