Born in 1954 in Madhya Pradesh, being a child rights activist was farthest from Kailash Satyarthi’s mind when he was a student. Winning a Nobel Peace Prize was even further. He has said his social conscience was awoken when he was six and noticed a boy his age on the steps outside the school with his father, cleaning shoes.
Seeing many such children working instead of being educated, he felt an urge as he grew older to solve the problem - launching him on his career of activism. “I think of it all as a test. This is a moral examination that one has to pass, to stand up against such social evils,” he said
In 1980 he founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan - Save the Childhood Movement – with the help of a few friends in order to work against child labour. To date, the BBA team has rescued more than 77,328 bonded child labourers and developed a successful model for their education and rehabilitation.
Satyarthi began his work by staging raids on Indian manufacturing, rug-making and other plants where children and their parents often work as bonded labour. He has been combating the use of child labour by creating domestic and international consumer resistance to products made by children in bonded labour. In 1994, for instance, he started “Rugmark”, a social labeling program in which rugs are labelled and certified to be child-labour-free by factories that agree to be regularly inspected.
In an interview in 1999, Satyarthi said, “No country has shown the political will to actually eliminate child labour. Our key argument has been that every child employed deprives a job to an adult. The growth of unemployment is linked to the growth of child labour.”
“Our studies have also found that very often, employers prefer to hire children from a particular family rather than the father or mother because children are paid less and are easier to exploit. Children don’t form unions! So it is a vicious circle - children employed in place of parents,” he added.
The prize-winner has been the pioneer advocate of the ‘Triangular paradigm of development’, which interlinks child labour elimination and poverty eradication with education for all. According to Satyarthi, the best solution to end child labour is “to provide primary education and make it compulsory”.
The activist said he was “delighted” by the Nobel award and described it as “recognition” for the fight for child rights. “If not now, then when? If not you, then who? If we are able to answer these fundamental questions, then perhaps we can wipe away the blot of human slavery,” Satyarthi said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Satyarthi’s work, saying via social media, “He has devoted his life to a cause that is extremely relevant to entire humankind. I salute his determined efforts. The entire nation is proud of his momentous achievement.” The Indian PM also congratulated Malala Yousafzai, saying, “Her life is a journey of immense grit & courage.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2014.
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SLAVERY? We all can see how people love slavery. Yes people love slavery. People rallied round Ayyub Khan, then Bhutto. Now they are rallying Maulana Qadri and Imran Khan. Did they learn any lesson from the past? No. Why? They love slavery. What they need to do they will NOT do. What they need NOT do, they do. What people need to do to end their perpetual slavery? They need to come to rally round each other. Instead of coming together in Tehreer Square or Constitution Avenue, they need to come together regularly in the localities and Qusbahs where they live and where everything good and bad happens. They need to come together where they live, to start laying the foundation of the Grand Union of the people, by the people, for the people. Did we not hear all the people friendly philosophers, thinkers, intellectuals advising us to take this course? Did we not hear the Lord, Lord of the worlds commanding us to do the same? Did we or did we not? So who is the biggest culprit bringing salvery upon themselves? Who? No one else than us. Yes we all are the biggest enemy of ourself. We do, what we should not do. We do not do, what we need to do. Will anyone be able to help us? No. Never. We do not want to help ourselves. Why? We love to rally round those who promise everything and can give nothing. We love slavery.
Sir I bow down to your greatness, selflessness and hard work. While most people want power to do the kind of work that makes a difference in many lives, you actually did not wait for power or position to help the poorest of the poor and most needy and exploited youngsters. I wish there were more people like you in my country where everybody is fighting for power not to serve humanity in general and the voters in particular. The Nobel could not have gone to better person this year.