Business Standard

‘Willing to knock on any door for my children’

-

Longtime crusader against child labour and slavery, Nobel Laureate

KAILASH SATYARTHI is no stranger to recognitio­n. His work has created ripples across the globe. He was in Los Angeles last week and in Rome before that. He spoke at a Rashtriya Swayamseva­k Sangh event in Nagpur last month and will soon be at an Islamic conference in Abu Dhabi. With a film on his life’s work, The Price of Free, by David Guggenheim due to release soon, the unlikely celebrity tells

Veer Arjun Singh about the experience, struggles and the risks of being a child rights activist.Edited excerpts:

You have travelled to many countries to talk about child rights, how are the challenges in India different?

The biggest problem in India is the marginalis­ation that comes with our caste system. Religious and cult leaders have large followings of different groups of people. But they don’t speak about child rights. Compared to many other counties where economic disparity is the biggest differenti­ator, India is grappling with a multi-faceted problem: from caste, religion and economic biases to corruption and modern slavery.

So how do we tackle the problem of child traffickin­g?

The issue of child protection is also interconne­cted. There’s a destinatio­n, transit and a source. To give you an example in the Indian context, NorthEast is a source area from where children are trafficked to be domestic help and Jharkhand is a hotbed of forced labour. Similarly, children from Bangladesh and Nepal are trafficked to many other countries via India. Child traffickin­g is a global problem that must be fought by addressing challenges specific to each region. For example, we have signed a Memorandum of Understand­ing with the Jharkhand government to put an end to Mica mining by children in Koderma. It’s not easy, it took us years to get here.

There are perhaps many people who would like to help a minor begging on the streets or being forced to work. What can they do?

How many times do these people see a child working at a tea stall or a restaurant, which is not a familyowne­d business, and try to figure out the child’s story. Even without taking the responsibi­lity of the child yourself, there are many things one can do. For starters, you can tell the owner that you will not be coming to his shop because he employees a child. You can educate the child and his parents about the law against it and the various economic schemes that can help them. A social evil can’t be allowed because it is a choice.

1098 is a dedicated helpline to report authoritie­s about children working in hazardous environmen­ts, such as factories and mines, or even being forced to beg on the road. One must be willing to gather the required awareness that precedes action and invest time in following up and coaxing the authoritie­s to fulfill their duties.

You have been a strong proponent of stronger laws against child labour. How good is the Traffickin­g of Persons Bill (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilita­tion) Bill 2018 up for review in the Rajya Sabha?

It is the strongest Bill we have so far against child traffickin­g anywhere in the world. It properly addresses the problem of not just protection against traffickin­g but also rehabilita­tion in a time-bound manner, which has been missing in India. I have had many conversati­ons with union minister Maneka Gandhi and my office of Bachpan Bachao Andolan has been consulted for drafting the Bill. We can debate about its implementa­tion later, but as soon as this law is enacted, it will begin to change things around.

The soon-to-be-released film, The Price of Free, seems to be about the many raids conducted to free children from forced labour. How was it shot, and what are the risks involved for people like you?

Two of my colleagues have been killed. I have been attacked and beaten up many times, right from when I was 14 years old. To save lives you have to risk some. Davis Guggenheim’s crew followed me to many such raids across the country. They were also present when we strategise­d before hitting a place. Sometimes we succeeded and sometimes we failed, all of it has been captured through hundreds of hours of shooting and everything is real-time.

There were hundreds of cameras when the film was screened at the Sundance festival, and many Hollywood celebritie­s treated me as the star of the film. But I was overwhelme­d, and I can’t live up the reputation of being a star. But when I free even one child, it’s a different kind of joy. It’s the satisfacti­on that I have earned. And no matter the risks, I have a simple goal, the freedom of children around the world. And I am willing to knock on any door for that.

Two of my colleagues have been killed. I have been attacked and beaten up many times, right from when I was 14 years old. To save lives you have to risksome

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India