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02 March 2007, Kishangunj, 11.00 am: Kishangunj is one of the poorest districts in the country, with nearly 70 percent Muslim population. The literacy rate is 17 percent with female literacy rate of 3.4 percent, the lowest in the country. There is endemic child labour and child trafficking in this region.
The public meeting was addressed by Kailash Satyarthi and the District Magistrate (DM) K Shravan. The DM pledged support to the March and said that it is high time that education emerged as a priority in Kishangunj. He also said that child labour should be taught in the school and instructed the District Education Officer who was present there that extra-curricular activities should be undertaken by schools in the form of competitions on the issues of child labour and child trafficking. This he said would encourage children to become aware of child labour and child trafficking in a friendly and competitive manner from an early age.
A March was then undertaken through the town of Kishangunj.
From Kishangunj in Bihar the March moved again to the state of West Bengal.
Siliguri, 02.00 pm:
The arrival of the March in Siliguri witnessed some of the defining moments in the fight against trafficking. When everyone was looking for cover, braving very heavy rain and totaly drenched, more than 1500 children were on the streets shouting slogans against child trafficking and welcoming the march.
Siliguri in Darjeeling district of West Bengal is one of the larger cities and a commercial centre. The district of Darjeeling is famous for its tea gardens around the world and the hill stations –Darjeeling and Kalimpong. It is also the connection between North Eastern parts of India and the rest of the country. Siliguri serves as a source, transit and destination for trafficking of children for forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation. Siliguri is crucial to this awareness campaign due to its proximity to both Nepal and Bangladesh. Through Silliguri, children from Bangladesh and Nepal are taken to different urban centres in India for domestic labour, prostitution, construction work, and other unorganised sectors. Child labour is also rampant in the tea gardens.
The Marchers were welcomed by a large gathering of children from various local NGOs and rain at Siliguri. The marchers braving the rain marched chanting slogans from Darjeeling More (crossing) to Bagha Jatin Park, sensitising the population of Siliguri on the evil of trafficking of children and the need for an appropriate law to combat trafficking for forced labour.
Kailash Satyarthi, Chairperson, Global March Against Child Labour, addressed the rally standing in the rain with the children. Amongst shouting slogans, on behalf of all the marchers, he thanked the children of Siliguri for being the source of inspiration for everyone by their unwavering commitment to the cause of ending human trafficking. He emphasised the need for adults to take guidance from the children and work harder towards creating a law that prosecutes and convicts traffickers in a timbound fashion and with minimum defined punishments.
Manabendra Mandal Chairperson, ATSEC South Asia said, “Trafficking is a crime against humanity, be it for commercial sexual exploitation, human organ transplantation, child labour, or for slavery like practices. Let us all join our hands together to combat against this organized crime”.
Aloka Mitra, Women’s Interlink Foundation said that it is high time trafficking became a peoples issue and a peoples movement. She said that the South Asian March Against Child Trafficking is the initiation in that direction and congratulated it. She also mentioned that her organisation was proud to been partner and participant in the March.
After the meeting when all the core marchers went to the evening accomodation, they met a person whose girl had been trafficked more than one and half years ago. This man had heard about the march in Kishanganj and had followed the march to Siliguri seeking help in the rescue of his daughter. He was given legal advise and his complaint was recorded on which action would be taken in due course.
While the evening was being enjoyed by the children doing cultural activities and dancing, Subhash Guha, a human rights activist from Siliguri came to meet the children. He had seen the buses of the March and as he had been a core marcher during the Global March Against Child Labour, it rekindled old memories. He followed the buses to their destination and when he met Mr. Satyarthi, he started crying. He has been working for child rights for more than 10 yrs. and it was a dream come true for him to meet his hero in flesh and blood. Subhash has now joined the South Asian March Against Child Trafficking as a core marcher. |
