Shah Rukh Khan was honored with the 24th Crystal Award organized at the World Economic Forum. The event hosted in Davos witnessed a loud applause from the audience after Mr. Khan ended his acceptance speech.
The Bollywood heartthrob spoke of his organization that helps acid attack victims. He said, “To disfigure a woman by throwing acid on her face is, to me, one the basest, crudest acts of subjugation imaginable. At the source of it lies the view that a woman does not have the right to assert her choice. And yet, each of the women I met, I found within them, the courage to move on with their lives and to reject the idea of victimhood. What was done to them only made them braver and stronger and more able to free themselves to make the choices that everyone around them said they could not make or should not make.”
Shah Rukh Khan went on to use a simple example to pass on a much deeper meaning, The actor was quoted saying, “I was babysitting my five-year-old son before I came here and suddenly he screamed, ‘Papa, Papa my eye went into my hair. Can you please get my eye out of the hair?’ He didn’t say get my hair out of my eye like we all believe they do. It’s a bit like that when you have power, I guess. You think things get in its way but actually, it is the power getting in the way. We, the powerful, need to get out of the way, and break open the access to the resources.”
The actor ended his speech by thanking all the women in his life. He said, “I would like to thank my sister, my wife and my little daughter for bringing me up well and teaching me the value of requesting, sometimes imploring, and may I add, sometimes even begging a yes from a woman instead of forcing it upon her.”
The Annual Crystal Award is an honor bestowed on those artists who have made a positive change in this struggling world. Hollywood Actress Cate Blanchett and music legend Elton John were also awarded the 24th Annual Crystal Award on Monday.
