'Aata' Violating Child Rights: HRC

Justice Subhashan Reddy, chairman of the Human Rights Commission, has threatened to stall Zee Telugu's 'Aata', a children's dance reality show. He argued that no reality show had the right to violate children's rights. Opining that the participants' provocative dances and dresses in the TV show were quite demeaning in nature, he said that a committee would be set up, if necessary, to probe into the matter further.

Reddy said that these shows have a bad impact on the society in general, and on those children watching the shows in particular. He admonished parents for channelling their children's focus on reality shows, which caused a lot of unhealthy mental stress and agony, along with untold physical stress.

For a week now, various child rights protection organizations and its members in the city have been campaigning against 'Aata' across the media. Brewing concerns over childrens' rights made them file a petition demanding for a halt of the show. Devi, a social worker, said that the reality shows involving children rake in a lot of money and are a form of exploitation. Considering the unlimited number of hours children invest in practice, it is like child labour, she further expressed.

In their defence, participants' parents said that everything on the show was a matter of personal choice. They said they were simply encouraging their children's interests in participating in the dance competition, and that as parents, they had the authority to take a decision over their children's life.

The parents have filed a petition now, demanding that the charges filed against them be dropped.