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The United Nations definition of slavery includes both bonded and child labour. It is hard to believe that in this day and age India has nearly 20 million bonded labourers - of which 35 percent are children under the age of 14 years. Sadly this practice of slavery continues despite the fact that both bonded labour and child labour are prohibited by the Indian Constitution. It is children between the ages of five and fifteen years of age who suffer most in this cruel system. Robbed of any childhood, their small fragile hands often charred and bloodstained, they toil between 8 and 12 hours a day. The problem has become so endemic that there is hardly any industry in India, from carpet manufacturing to gem polishing, lock-making to bangle making, hand looms to brick kilns and stone quarrying, where child and bonded labour are not being employed. These children are denied their most fundamental right to a childhood free from labour in which they are given the opportunity to be educated and to grow up and discover themselves enough to express and fulfill their talents. Under the leadership of Swami Agnivesh, Bandhua Mukti Morcha (The bonded labour Liberation Movement) has achieved the release of over 176,000 bonded labourers - of which 26,000 are children. Bandhua Mukti Morcha (BMM) was established by Swami Agnivesh in 1981 to fight this pervasive form of slavery. Its success continues amidst the ambience of successive apathetic administrations that lack the political will to carry out the constitutional mandates of the country. Over 1,76,000 bonded labourers freed so far. Working to put an end to gender discrimination Bandhua Mukti Morcha (BMM) has been also actively engaged in vigorous campaigns to eliminate of all forms of gender discrimination. It works as a catalyst for the deliverance of women from the socio economic shackles that has taken countless form. In January of 2001, an International conference on Dowry and Bride Burning was organized against the 25,000 dowry related deaths in India each year. Being keenly aware of the great hardship, working women and girls undergo in industries especially those employing bonded labour, BMM has forged ahead to create Skill Training centres for girls. Amidst cultural and establishment oppostion, BMM has created Non-residential Training centres for girls and Residential centre for boys. A traditional Residential Training centre for boys has been running successfully for many years. Basic literacy schools are being setup in areas of bonded labour so that the youngest of children can be educated and saved from bonded labour. The Struggle continues with.. - Setting up investigative groups, public interest litigation groups and informal judicial panels to monitor the bonded labour and child labour situation in various parts of the country. - Sensitizing various national and international bodies including relevant UN Committees regarding the situation of bonded labour in India. About Swami Agnivesh The founder and current chairperson of Bandhua Mukti Morcha has been the recipient of several international and national humanitarian awards for his work with bonded labouers. He is also the current Chairperson the UN Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery. A sannysin in the Arya Samaj tradition, Swamiji's activist work is deeply rooted in a spiritual life that embraces all, regardless of nationality, caste, gender, colour or creed. Swamiji answers questions: Q: Bonded labour seems so far removed from my own life does it rally impact on me? A: The impact of bonded labour on those who live free lives will really depend on the level of each person's commitment to justice and peace and the level of compassion each one feels for their fellow humans. Furthermore, each consumer should be aware of the way in which the goods that their freedom allows them to enjoy are produced. Can anyone be truly happy with a product that is produced in pain and misery. Q. Will anything I do make a difference? A. Someone once said that all it requires for evil to triumph is for good women and men to remain silent. Like everyone else who had the privilege of an education, I thought slavery had ended when the trade of human beings between Africa and Europe and America was made illegal in the nineteenth century. Discovering that it rears its head again the again amongst even highly civilized communities - as the slave labour camps of Nazi Germany just sixty years ago demonstrate - means that all of us must be on the alert and be prepared to lend ourselves to a constant vigilance and struggle against the offensive practice. BONDED LABOUR LIBERATION FRONT 7 Jantar Mantar Road New Delhi, 110001, India email: agnivesh@vsnl.com |
