The Award
 |
| Dr Chandra Mohan Bhandari |
Kailash Satyarthi
(born Kailash Sharma, hereafter KS), an electrical engineer by training, joined
a college in Bhopal as a lecturer. However, very soon (around 1980), he left
the security and comfort of his job and started an NGO to work for the welfare
of the neglected and exploited children. Child labour and bonded labour,
although somewhat in decline during recent decades, were still prevalent in
parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and in selected pockets in some other states
too. A few motivated individuals had been raising their voices every now and
then. However, the magnitude of the problem is gigantic and individual efforts,
even though laudable, hardly managed to make a significant impact. It was in
this scenario that Satyarthi entered the scene and started a movement known as
‘Bachpan Bachao Andolan’, i.e. ‘Save childhood movement’. He had to face stiff
resistance from men who employed child labour for financial gains, but slowly
his motives were better understood and support base gradually extended.
KS worked with
dedication to pursue his efforts almost as a crusader for children’s rights. In
course of time he became secretary general for the Bonded Labour Liberation
Front. He was among the founders of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan. He has also
been associated with the Global March against Child Labour and the
International Center on Child Labour and Education. He was President of the Global Campaign for Education; he
was one of its four founders along with Oxfam, Education International and
ActionAid.
One of his main
contributions was the establishment of Rugmark, which
is also referred to as Goodweave; it was related to the rugs manufactured
without using child-labour in South Asia. This organisation started a campaign
in the West in the 1980s and early 1990s which aimed at raising awareness among
consumers. There were other issues such as accountability of
corporations in the context of socially responsible consumerism. KS has constantly
highlighted child labour as a human rights issue. He has argued that it
perpetuates poverty, unemployment, illiteracy,
population growth, and other social problems, and his claims have been
supported by several studies. He also had a role in linking the movement
against child labour with
efforts for achieving ‘Education for All’. He has been a member of a UNESCO body
established to examine this and has been on the board of the Fast Track
Initiative which is now known as the Global Partnership for Education.
KS has been alert to
the challenges of all sorts. Bhopal gas tragedy is still alive in the minds of
people in and around the affected city. KS has been fighting to get justice for
the gas victims especially the children. There have been other issues
pertaining to children. It’s really a matter of national shame that even in the
twenty first century a kind of slavery is being practiced which does not spare
even the children. The magnitude of the problem is beyond comprehension in a
modern society. There are many other problems which need immediate attention. It
is hard to imagine that several thousand children go missing every year and
hardly twenty percent are traceable. What happens to others? Are they victims
of child trafficking? Only some lucky ones get the attention of NGOs and crusaders
for children’s rights. Several thousand others remain untraced and what fate
they meet can only be guessed. In the national capital itself nearly 6,000 kids
went missing in 2012 and the number was more than 7,000 in 2013. All over the
country nearly 1,35,000 kids went missing of which majority was that of the
girls. It is estimated that the number of untraced children in the country
increased by about 84 percent between 2013 (about 34,244) and 2015 (about
62,988). According to an estimate an average of about 180 children go missing
every day [2]. This number may be smaller
than the real figure as in many states like U P, Bihar, and Jharkhand where not
many are able to file an FIR. Even the Supreme Court had to issue a notice (October
2014) to chief secretaries of various states reminding them of their duties and
responsibilities. World’s largest democracy and oldest civilisation has nothing
better to offer to the unfortunate in its future generation.
Where We Stand
It
is a matter of national shame that we are somewhere at the top of the ‘modern
slavery index’. Modern slavery is defined as a situation in which humans are
treated as commodities and are open to trade; they can be bought, and sold like
commodities. This could be in the form of bonded labour, forced labour and
trafficking. To learn that our country has the highest number of persons in
slave like condition comes as a rude shock. According to one estimate there are
around 13 million in this category while the total number in the whole world is
around 30 million. Some other organisations put the figure as 46 million for
entire world in 2016 of which around 18 million were in India. These figures
are based on information through websites including Wikipedia.
Men like Satyarthi
are motivated by their own interests and convictions. People do at times
appreciate and recognise their contributions which are often reflected through
awards. Satyarthi’s work was also recognised and he won many a prestigious
award. These include: Defenders of Democracy Award, Robert Kennedy
International Human Rights Award (in the US), Frederick Ebert Human Rights Award
(Germany), and Medal of the Italian Senate. He probably did not get any
recognition in his own country prior to his winning the Nobel although now
there will be plenty of them coming. We seem to appreciate the work of any
Indian only when he/she has won a big award elsewhere. There have been examples
when talented individuals went from pillar to post for a job but remained
unsuccessful. They migrated to foreign lands, and won big awards, and after
that everyone started singing melodies in their praise. There are examples of
men like Baba Amte whose solid contribution for the rehabilitation of leprosy
patients and untiring struggle to give them a life of dignity could have
motivated thousands of others to work for the cause of the unprivileged.
However, it is a sad commentary on our social awareness that not many among us
even know this.
We as citizens of
this nation feel proud that Satyarthi was chosen for the Nobel Peace Prize.
This is the second peace prize awarded to an Indian citizen, the first being
the one awarded to Mother Theresa. Yet every time I focus on the issue I seem
to take it with a mixed feeling: a mix of pride and shame. If the prizes won by
some among us are a matter of pride, then all kind of injustice and
exploitation of children in particular is a matter of shame. I, as a citizen of
the nation, owe a responsibility; to seek an answer to my own query: have I
done enough to be labelled a responsible citizen? We are proud of individuals
like Satyarthi. Is there any chance that he may be proud of us – an average
citizen of his own nation?
Self-Analysis
Democracy in India has evolved over the decades – amid tensions, rhetoric, social-political turbulence and noise. In a democratic set up each constituent has a role to play and the role required to be played by intelligentsia, although indirect, is important and far-reaching in its consequences. The political class, bureaucracy and the business class for example have their own work ethics and motivations but it is up to the intellectuals to define, re-define and re-enforce the conceptual basis for a healthy democracy. We do seem to raise relevant questions as regards different aspects pertaining to the nation: social justice, education, human rights and other issues but somehow that does not form the core issue of our ongoing discussions. Moreover, there have always been divergences in our thoughts and actions; our response is very often fossilised and compartmentalised. By and large Indian intelligentsia at present is a motley crowd of parallel walkers [3] who move along parallel lines that never seemed to meet. We do think a lot but in absence of any strong serial process we are unable to create and maintain a chain reaction. That becomes a source of diversity which is welcome, yet in absence of proper co-ordination between individuals and groups the concept or idea is unable to evolve. The chain reaction can be compared to a relay race where the first runner runs up to a distance and hands over his token to second runner of his team who then carries the token further. And this requires a proper coordination between runners at different stages. In my opinion we have an inherent inability as regards coordination. Moreover, we are divided in classes and clans just like our age-old caste system – left or right, north or south, pro-something or anti-something. And for our own short term gains we twist and distort the meanings of – be it democracy or secularism or socialism. We can think and plan of probing Mars but are unable to see the happenings next door. We behave almost like a paralysed organ needing someone’s care all the time whether it is about health or education or law and order or child labour. And all this is not an outcome of poverty itself; Indians are among the richest men all over the globe. Or if it is really poverty, then it could only be the ‘poverty of thought coordination’ [3].
We are in urgent
need of a thorough self-analysis on our ability to live with contradictions and
our inability to face the situations squarely. There are a number of steps in
the mental growth of individual and a society. As humans we begin our conscious
lives with the so-called ego which essentially veers around a self-image and
strives hard to work for it. This is present right from the childhood and
continues almost as a shadow. With time, another mental activity makes its
presence felt which veers around our interactions with our immediate
neighbourhood: family, friends, relations, etc – a whole gamut of social life.
This is the so-called bio-social level in the Wilber’s spectrum psychology [4, 5]. The ego-level and the
bio-social level of our psyche dominate in our early childhood and adolescence.
Gradually the world with all its stresses and strains opens up before us and
reminds us of the conflicts we have to deal with. Referred to as the
existential level this part of our psychic activity veers around the
conflicting queries about dualistic situations: life-death, good-bad,
love-hate, and the like. In almost all cases, the three domains then determine
our personalities till the end. The conflicts pertaining to these domains of
psyche continue and we always try to seek a way out, but many a time find none.
There seems no exit. However, there is an exit route outlined by wise men in
all ages and in all societies. The conflicts and tensions between the three
domains can be managed by referring to a fourth level of psyche which is known
as the transpersonal level. In this state of psyche one is not confined to the interests
of the autonomous self but tries to go beyond, to transcend the barrier of the
self.
It is this
transpersonal domain which is the source of strength, inspiration and
motivation to men like Satyarthi. In the mad rush of everyday life and living
most of us have been neglecting the transpersonal domain. A democracy in true
sense demands a responsible role from each citizen and when this does not
happen, socio-political turmoil like this springs up more often. A vast nation
with vast resources and manpower struggles haphazardly to battle the legacy of
feudal and conservative socio-political framework which seems to touch upon the
modernity on one end and the backward looking and reactionary notions on the other.
All these happenings suggest a severe shortcoming in our intellectual-socio-political
fabric. We as a nation must re-define our priorities and pursue them
relentlessly. In this the intelligentsia has a special role to play. Only then
we may hope to find ourselves on the road to recovery.
If I remember
correctly Satyarthi once said: “There are thousands of problems in our country.
However, there are millions of solutions too.”
Having said that
we should be grateful to persons like KS to remind us that:
In
your proximity I feel
We
are not surrounded by incapacities
But
by possibilities.
And
if we so wish
A
door can be opened in every wall,
And
through it
A
whole mountain can be made to roll.
– Sarveshwar Dayal
Saxena
(Translated from Hindi by the author)
(Translated from Hindi by the author)
References:
*The
various figures in the text are primarily taken from Wikipedia.
[1] Based
in part on info in Wikipedia.
[2] Dipin
Damodharan. The Blog, 15 July, 2017.
[3] C M
Bhandari. ‘Land of Parallel Walkers,’ Mainstream
Weekly, Vol 50, No. 45, October 2012.
[4] Ken
Wilber. The Spectrum of Consciousness,
M B Publishers Pvt Ltd, Delhi (2002). Published by arrangements with
Theosophical Pub House, USA (1977).
[5] Ken
Wilber. Up from Eden: Transpersonal View
of Human Evolution, Quest Books, 1996.
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