SRK meets 10 acid attack survivors, discusses corrective surgeries & jobs
Kolkata: For Monisha Pailan, meeting Shah Rukh Khan is a feeling that “can’t be expressed in words”. It was her third meeting with the ‘Pathaan’.
Like Monisha, nine more acid attack survivors met King Khan at a private programme at a city hotel post the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens.
“He is the biggest film star in the country but when you meet him, it seems he is one of our own. Though I have met him thrice, it always feels like our first meeting. It’s a feeling that can’t be expressed in words. He also discussed our employment opportunities,” said Monisha, an acid attack survivor,
who belongs to a village in Jaynagar. Monisha was attacked on her way back home from the computer centre on November 17, 2015. It’s been eight years and her attacker leads a normal life.
Shah Rukh met 10 acid attack survivors of the Bengal chapter of Brave Souls Foundation, an organisation started by Delhi-based Shaheen Malik, also an acid attack survivor.
From speaking to them about their corrective surgeries, employment opportunities, education and health, the actor spent nearly half an hour with the survivors. He listened to all of them, posed for photographs and promised to be there for anything they needed.
“He was in a rush but he took out time from his busy schedule to meet us,” said Aparajita Bose, coordinator of
Bengal the foundation. Bose informed how SRK’s Meer Foundation has organised corrective surgeries for the Bengal acid attack survivors. “The surgeries and treatment gave confidence to the survivors, who had almost given up on returning to mainstream life,” said Bose.
Monisha got her corrective surgery in 2019. “I work with acid attack survivors and encourage them to get the surgery. The corrective surgery boosts confidence,” said the Jaynagar resident.
Today, the Bengal chapter of Brave Souls Foundation has nearly 30 acid attack survivors among which 16 have had their corrective surgeries.
