The innocent eyes, the mesmerizing smile, the longing cries, the tiny features, the ignited minds, the future… is what a child is. But now the truth is that before this child open’s its eyes, it is made to sleep forever-never to be born again.
Are we caring enough for our children, the millions who are the citizens of tomorrow? The answer is a big ‘No’. We are committing the worst crime against humanity when we don’t even allow children to be born-just because they carry the stigma of being girls.
Poverty and poor awareness about the need for education has resulted in this evil. India has the largest child labor force in the world-more than 17 million. All our efforts at eradicating or at least minimizing the evil have come to naught. And many of these poor children are working in miserable and hazardous conditions all for a pittance.
Experts who have studied the problem of child labor have felt that across India primary education could alleviate the problem. We have not even provided the minimum, safe infrastructure for our school children.
The town of Khumbhakonam in Tamil Nadu earned notoriety recently when more than 90 children were charred to death when their thatched school building was gutted by fire. We are proud of our five-star hotels and high-rise the minimum facilities for our children, we say we don’t have funds.
There are so many children still hanging out in red light areas at night. The tiny tots are given mild sedatives and are put off to sleep while the older ones run around buying condoms or liquor for their mother’s customers.
And then there are street children seen everywhere, at railway stations, bazaars, city corners etc.
Such evils as dowry, child marriage, rape, prostitution, corruption and the like still flourish despite laws.
It is not only the poor children who are under stress; millions of children belonging to middle class and upper class also undergo formidable emotional strains in families where both parents are working. In a society where future is tied to ranks and grades and where they rise up to their expectations erode the young minds, many children fear that failure is the end of the world and a few desperate enough to withstand the trauma of failure, take out their lives too.
Have we ever bothered to plumb the depth of these young minds? Is a child just a ritual, a blossom to smell and be thrown away in the dust? Can you be satisfied with your own life when the others of your age are starving? Can you leave those unfortunate orphans aloof when you have a big family with loads of people who care for you? Can you sleep in those cozy beds when they lie shivering and naked outside? Can you remain happy bursting crackers in festivals while they long for a single day from producing those crackers? Can you live peacefully when they are being choked to death unnecessarily? Can you pass by a girl bearing a child while she still is a child? Can you hear tales of child prostitutes and forced sex workers while you are so lovingly taken care of in a secure life? Can you swallow even a single piece of food when those children starve for months continuously? Can you remain blind to the unseen tears of those children? Can you remain dumb for those tiny creatures when you are a child yourself? If yes, you are not human. If no, raise your voice, speak aloud, and speak for justice. Let not your voice be unheard when you speak for them. Let the ‘voice of a child in favour of a child’ be heard all around the world.