BUILDING LIVES ‘BRICK BY BRICK’

Fighting for the rights of bonded labourers working at brick kilns has become a mission for HT Woman 2017 runner up Rashmi Gupta, 33. At first glance, Rashmi comes across as a shy housewife who is at a loss for words when quizzed about her personal life. However, a mere mention of her life’s mission sees Rashmi shedding her diminutive avatar and speak confidently about what spurred her to take up this cause and how she plans to take it forward.

Rashmi’s journey began in February 2011 when she read a newspaper report about a brick kiln labourer who had escaped from his owner and sought police help. Rashmi felt like helping him and went to the police station but what she saw there changed her life’s course forever.

“The owner of the brick kiln was hurling abuses at the labourer in front of the policemen. He even tried to beat up the labourer who was huddled behind a desk and urging the owner to spare his life,” Rashmi recalls.

What further disturbed her was the behaviour of the police, who in this case had taken up the role of a mediator. The policemen were trying to fix a deal with the owner. “Everyone was busy making profit at the cost of poor man’s life who was huddled behind the desk. That was it. I knew no one would listen to me. So I wrote a letter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and informed them about the incident,” says Rashmi.

The incident occurred in February 2011 and the complaint became the cornerstone of her struggle to fight for the rights of the people. Pitched against strongmen and criminals, a postgraduate, Rashmi used education as her strength and pen her primary

Everyone was busy making profit at the cost of poor man’s life who was huddled behind the desk. RASHMI GUPTA, ACTIVIST

weapon. “I started writing letters to the district magistrate, NHRC, Women Rights Commission and other agencies who safeguard the rights of people in the country,” she tells.

Since that letter in 2011, Rashmi has posted over a 500 letters to various such agencies. It is hard to believe that this average looking woman from a dusty town stood up against rowdy brick kiln owners to protect the rights of people, which the former employ as bonded labourers- a form of work contract where an employee is nothing more than a slave to his employer. The practice though criminalised by Supreme Court is still prevalent in several excluded pockets mostly by brick kiln owners owners.

Rashmi’s day still starts with searching newspaper for reports on bonded labourers and ends with posting letters to authorities informing them about the incident. On an average she writes a dozen letters in a month.

The woman’s efforts reminds one of the iconic character Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins in the now classic movie 'Shawshank Redemption.' In the movie, Andy writes a letter daily to the jail superintendent seeking funds for the jail library. After several months, his efforts bore fruit and so did Rashmi’s.

The then district magistrate of Bareilly was directed by the NHRC to safeguard the rights of the bonded labourers. Others letters in the following years forced the district administration to take action against kiln owners who employed bonded labourers.

This motivated Rashmi to expand her mission and she now alerts authorities about sexual assault victims, child labourers, bonded labourers, abandoned old parents to ensure that they are looked after.

However, as one turns the questions towards her personal life, Rashmi’s voice loses its cadence. After a long silence, Rashmi tells that she is the youngest of the four siblings. She completed her post graduation from Bareilly College in 2004 and was married in 2006. She is a mother of two daughters aged 9 years and 5 years. For personal reasons, Rashmi refuses to shares why she is separated from her husband, who though still remains a source of her motivation. “He (husband) is a hard working man who also cares for people around him. His love for people continues to motivate me,” she says slowly.

One is again reminded of Andy Dufresne and his struggle to build a tunnel in his prison cell to escape from the jail. For Rashmi, it seems the prison is her personal life and helping people is her escape tunnel.