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Is our world turning into no-go zones for our little ones!
If Stories around the world are to be believed, existence is getting tougher for
the children. Crime against children is getting grislier with each passing day.
Boko Haram has made a business out of kidnapping and forcing them to do all
kinds of inconceivable acts. Pakistan hogged headlines for failing to protect
its young population from the bloodthirsty Talibans who devastated Peshawar army
schools and killed over hundred school children. Many separatist militant
groups have been deploying child soldiers against their so called fight of
liberation1. Even staunch supports of their supposed noble causes
could not condone such barbarous act. These accounts cannot be ignored as a sordid
deed carried out by terrorists and the uncivilized. The civilized world has not
been far behind in perpetrating and perpetuating crimes against our future
generation on the name of enforcing discipline, maintaining law and order, facilitating
development and creating competitiveness.
How many have introspected after watching viral photographs
of children subjected to worst kind of training regime to bring glory to China
have surfaced. It is all forgotten under the impressive Olympic tally of China
at being number two giving tough competition to USA supremacy. Just recently,
McDonald’s refused street children to provide access to one of its outlet in
India. Many times our children are not given access to this world even; they
are killed in the womb itself.
Kenya had perhaps fewer strategies to deal with its problems
and hence came up with a unique one when it fired teargas on its own children.
And for what! Those poor fellows were protesting against the land grab of their
playground. If they can’t play, what they are supposed to do? Perhaps, our
civilized world is more pleased to see them, working in the mines, slogging in
the hazardous industries or more ubiquitously begging on the streets. They are
being subjected to worst kind of treatment, be it being trafficked for sexual
gratification or making them carry machine guns for shooting the innocents. At
the stage when they should be at school, they are at every odd place except
there in classes. If some mange to reach there, they are shot down! When we
will realize that our effort to save Malala is not one of saving a single child
only, but to save entire humanity?
Many societies have colluded with religion to wreak havoc on
the life of the innocents. They are made goddess at an age where they don’t
know what this goddess is all about 2. Good sense has to prevail to
ensure that they are given at least the status of a human being. Only exhorting
one particular religious community to produce four/ten children3
each family does not suffice. Are these self proclaimed religious leaders (they
have become elected leaders as well many a times) will ensure that all those
children produced on their sage advice gets basic amenities like education,
food and shelter. Therefore, it comes as a pleasant surprise when Pope
proclaims that Catholics don't have to breed "like rabbits" and
should instead practice "responsible parenting."
Though, it is not a totally bleak scenario; many praiseworthy
steps have been taken to improve the condition of the children like stringent
regulatory legislation and creation of support mechanism. It is high time, we
act on those laws which we have drafted so meticulously but failed to enforce. We
have to go beyond symbolism of awarding Nobels to our young victims and child
crusaders. It is time to take punitive action against those who use children as
a political, economic and religious instrument to serve their own sinister
ends. Let us bring our babies out of the
rat race and make them see from their own eyes, not our eyes.
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3 comments:
There are two dimensions to the problem- 1)child labour, 2)crimes against children.
Though legislative and administrative measures are important, they are by no means sufficient, especially in case of child labour. The problem has its roots in poverty, unemployment and inequality. As we develop as a society, this problem will be solved slowly...but the process is painfully slow:(
However, the other part...crimes against children is not directly related to poverty...it's much more complex!
Thanks for going thru the post. I was moved by your own blogpost on child vicctims. I personally count child labour as a crime against children. Reasons are various and quite complex in nature and multidimensional. Understandably, only legislative and administrative measures are not sufficient.
no mother want to his child become labor or abuse that is way it is necessary to empower women physically and economically.
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