Sold into bondage

Much of our charity goes to beggars on the streets, which in turn helps fund mafias to continue kidnapping children

It was a pleasure to meet Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi this week. His efforts have led to the freeing of 80,000 child labourers in India. Now thanks to his Nobel prize, the world has woken up to the issue and has given strength to his movement.

The humble and soft-spoken Kailash talked about his never-ending battle with not just the captors but with the authorities as well in order to secure the release of child captives. It has been a thankless task.

These captives include those who would end up begging on the streets and also those who would be sold as sex slaves. Like Pakistan, India has a big problem of missing children.

Kailash recalled his first case where a family from Aligarh had been sold into bondage and worked at a brick kiln in another part of the country. The father of the family had traced Kailash, as the landlord was about to sell his daughter to sex traffickers. It was then that Kailash decided to take things into his own hands and tried to have the family set free. Instead, he and his colleagues were beaten black and blue.

After that, Kailash approached the courts and in this particular case managed to have the whole family freed. But it has not been smooth sailing at all in most cases. Challenges abound but his motto remains not to give up hope.

Across the border, in Pakistan things are no better. Thousands have been sold into bonded labour. Their cases have been highlighted time and again by the media but with limited success.

The other story remains untold. This is the story of the thousands of children who are kidnapped and turned into beggars after their body parts are mutilated. This is a powerful mafia which has been operating for decades now but with little check. How are we going to fight them?

We see children being tied up and mutilated at shrines in different parts of the country only to end up begging on the streets. And the government looks the other way. Instead we are told that no such thing happens.

I recall how Edhi sahab would ask people not to give money to street beggars. He insisted that they save the money and give it to charities of their choice. But in most instances, Pakistanis continue to ignore this advice.

Much of our charity goes to beggars on the streets, which in turn helps fund the mafias to continue kidnapping and entrapping children into this trade. Beggars make more money than most other day labour-intensive professions. That is why begging is proliferating. This is not only about poverty.

How do we break this cycle? Let us start by not giving money to those on the streets. But more must be done to attack the groups that place them there in the first place. Kailash talks about bringing into place laws through legislation which will make this practice not only illegal but punishable. So far, the perpetrators end up getting away scot-free if and when they are arrested.

The other issue is awareness. “Our children are our present not our future. We have to do something now.” Kailash is very committed to this cause. He gave up his job as an electrical engineer to dedicate himself to protecting and advancing child rights for over three decades now.

It is largely due to his doggedness and zeal that NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan has emerged as by far the most prominent child rights group. He has passionately argued that child trafficking and labour perpetuate poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and population growth.

In our conversation with Kailash, he mentioned the work of human rights activists to free bonded labourers in Pakistan. Many of these people were hounded out of the country on grounds that they were bringing a bad name. None of our major political or religious parties have highlighted the issue of modern-day slavery. This is because the people affected are not only poor and disenfranchised but also from religious minorities. For them, there is no one to turn to. These are the most vulnerable in our society. We must fight for them.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2016.

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