[Reader-list] [mcrc_jamia_alumni] A failed child-labour rescue and other dilemmas of Jamia Nagar

Sat Nov 6 12:10:34 IST 2010

Dear Adil
Thanks for your note. I also stay in Batla house. There is a possibility that those are children of the zari workers, but then I have the following concerns:

1. why do the children spend the night within the factories (the same dormitory-like rooms where they work). You can visit any of these places and see for yourself - they even keep their clothes and personal belongings in those rooms. Of course a TV has been provided in some rooms by the owners for their entertainment.

2. If their homes and families were right there, why were 60 of them willing to go with the BBA activists (they had been put into vehicles and then snatched back).

3. even if they are Zari worker's children, can the child-labour be justified? What about their education, playing, growth etc. What is wrong if an outside agency/NGO is concerned about that?

4. I am not defending the Bachpan Bachao Andolan - I hardly know them nor have I interacted with them. But I provided a link to their website (http://www.bba.org.in). And if you simply go by what they claim on the website, they have rescued over 50,000 children from labour/bondage situations. Of course you would be concerned about what do they do with the kids after rescue. Well, besides raid and rescue they also do repatriation, re-integration, rehabilitation and provide legal assistance. The police assists them in all raids (although in this case it didn't work out, and I know exactly why). But I would still like to know more about them (maybe to contact them after divali break).

5. But my bigger concern is: what are we as educated citizens of this locality doing? We (especailly Jamia's academic community with all its specialization in social sciences) have allowed the child labour to happen right before our eyes, and are now raising doubts about the outsiders.

6. Its better I don't talk about the local leaders and the religious fervour that can be raised everytime something happens here. Its always easy to blame others for one's plight but very difficult to look within.

thanks

Yousuf

--- On Fri, 11/5/10, Adilmatin <adilmatin at yahoo.co.in> wrote:

> From: Adilmatin <adilmatin at yahoo.co.in>

> Dear yousuf, I appreciate your
> concern but my information is that these children are local
> residents and their parents are zari workers. I know this
> because I stay in the locality next to the batla house area.
> This is just a preconceived notion that because some Muslim
> leaders have done something like this in the past,
> therefore, they are always wrong. Specially When we compare
> such local politicians with the 'word' NGO. You must be
> aware about the scams and the scandals associated with the
> 'word' NGO, but we can not generalise all of them.
>             
> 
> Adil Matin
> Vice President
> Information TV-Indianews Channel
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> On 04-Nov-2010, at 8:23 AM, Yousuf <ysaeed7 at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> 
> Dear all
> Below is a very unfortunate news from Jamia Nagar, New
> Delhi. On 1st November a team of activists from the NGO
> Bachpan Bachao Andolan along with police officials tried to
> rescue about 60 children working in the sweatshops of zari
> industry in Batla House. They had almost secured these
> children and were taking them away, but their operation
> failed because a mob led by local leaders gathered around
> them and snatched all the children back. They spread the
> rumour that the activists were “conspiring against
> Muslims” and forcefully taking away “their” children.
> The police obviously watched the whole drama without taking
> any action. They were afraid that the event may take a turn
> of communal violence. (http://www.bba.org.in/news/011110.php) 
> 
> This is a very sad state of affairs, not only for the
> presence of rampant child labour in this area, the defiance
> of the local goons, and the silence of the police. But it is
> more unfortunate because of the inaction and silence of the
> entire intellectual class originating from Jamia. The
> neighbourhood of Jamia Nagar is spread around a central
> university whose many staff, teachers and students reside
> here. Jamia has well known departments and centres for the
> study and training in Social Work, Peace Studies, Minority
> Studies, media studies, Childhood development centre,
> Gandhian studies and host of others (see http://www.jmi.ac.in/centres.htm). But right under the
> lamp there seems darkness. 
> 
> This is not the first time that the local people used the
> “Muslim” card to thwart any outside attempt to improve
> their lot. Of course there has been a lot of insecurity due
> to the recent incidents of “terrorist encounter” and so
> on. And the people’s hostility and anger towards the
> police and “non-Muslims” can be understood in the light
> of the generalisations made by the media and the police
> about the people of this area. But this can also have a
> different sort of advantage. Pretending the fear of local
> backlash, the authorities have decided in the recent months
> to turn a blind eye to the mass-scale illegal construction
> of apartment buildings in the already narrow and cramped
> lanes, allowing the neighbourhood to become utterly inhuman
> to live. This construction activity and the zari factories
> are all part of the growing monster that this area has
> become. And the religious identity is a good excuse to allow
> the monstrosity to grow larger. Of
> course, one shouldn’t even mention that Delhi’s
> aspirations of becoming a world class city during the recent
> CW games didn’t touch this area in any way.
> 
> I don’t know what can be done about it. But I am writing
> here hoping that at least some discussion or debate could
> ensue in some place to make sense of what is going on. But
> more than a closed-door discussion, this neighbourhood needs
> a street-level debate on how not to use the religious
> identity for petty issues, and how real are these
> “conspiracies against Muslims”. 
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> Yousuf Saeed 
> 
> ----
> 
> Child Labour Rescue Operation failed due to inefficient
> attitude of administration 
> 
> On 1st of November 2010, Bachpan Bachao Andolan alongwith
> the labour department, Task Force and Delhi Police conducted
> a raid and rescue operation in their effort to eradicate
> Child Labour in Jamia Nagar, New Delhi. After rigorous
> effort by the activists of BBA more than 200 child labourers
> in zari industry were identified. On this context BBA filed
> a complaint to the District Task Force, D.C South on 19th
> October 2010. After two planning meetings with all
> stakeholders of District Task Force, the raid and rescue
> date was finalised on 1st November 2010. As such the team
> gathered at Kalkaji Police Station at 9:30 a.m to move for
> identified spot headed by SDM, Defence Colony, Mr. P.N. Jha
> and moved towards Batla House and hence started the rescue
> operation. Children in this area were involved in the zari
> works in miserable condition. They were between 6 years to
> 13 years of age.
> 
> The whole process of rescue was done peacefully and the
> teams were successful in rescuing around sixty children and
> they were being taken to the vehicle, but suddenly out of
> nowhere two person named Amanatulla and Samiulla, who
> introduced themselves as some members of a political
> organization, along with the owners of the industry came and
> interrupted the process of rescue operation. These two
> person propagated a communal flavour during conversation
> with our team members and motivated the people by saying
> that these people are against Muslims.
> 
> As a result of their interruption the local people started
> gathering and asking questions. The Police Officials and the
> people from the labour department remained standing as mere
> spectators and most of them disappeared from the spot. The
> activists of Bachpan Bachao Andolan were treated indecently
> by the owners and the two so called local leaders namely
> Amanautulla and Samiulla. They went to that extent of
> obstructing the whole process and started to threaten the
> children and forcefully snatched the rescued children away.
> 
> In spite of this, the Police and the Labour Department did
> not take any action and at last we had to return back empty
> handed. Shri R.S Chaurasia, Chairperson of BBA, said in this
> context “This happened because of the inefficient attitude
> of the administration but our activists will continue this
> movement against those who are responsible for creating this
> kind of inhuman situation unless all rescued children are
> rescued in that area
> Now we are going to file complain to the appropriate
> authority to take proper action against who interrupted the
> official work by sustaining the rescue operation and
> forcibly taking away the freed children and thus registering
> cases for kidnapping/ abduction for purpose of slavery
> (Sec.367 IPC), obtaining possession of a minor for an
> illegal/immoral purpose of child labour (Sec. 373 IPC),
> Criminal Assault, obstructing and assaulting a public
> servant from doing his/her duty (Sec. 186, 189 IPC),
> Criminal Intimidation and threat of grievous hurt or death
> (Sec. 506), Criminal Conspiracy etc. 
> 
> http://www.bba.org.in/news/011110.php
> 
> Also see: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Mob-forces-rescued-kids-to-return/articleshow/6861743.cms
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------
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