LET’S SAVE OUR CHILDREN!
-Fr.
Cedric Prakash sj*
December 28th is the day on
which the Catholic Church commemorates the massacre of innocent babies by King
Herod who felt threatened by the birth of Jesus. The day is known as ‘Feast of
the Holy Innocents’. This day is also a reminder to every Christian of her or
his responsibility to protect and nurture every child of today.
Speaking to a large audience at St.
Peter’s Square on Christmas Day, Pope Francis said, “My thoughts today go to all children who are abused and mistreated:
those killed before they are born; those deprived of the generous love of their
parents who are buried under a selfishness of a culture that does not love
life; those children displaced by war and persecution, abused and exploited under
our eyes and the silence that makes us accomplices.”
On December 16th the world
was aghast when the Taliban attacked the school in Peshawar, Pakistan killing
more than 130 children and again on December 23rd when the Bodo
militants killed almost 80 tribals in Assam - many of them children. In the
past, children were normally spared during a riot; however, the Gujarat Carnage
of 2002 marked a departure from this when children also became victims of
unmitigated violence.
India has the dubious distinction of
being a country with the highest number of missing children; the National Crime
Record Bureau (NCRB) states that approximately 370 children go missing daily in
India and the Union Home Ministry reports that between 2011 and 2014, 3.25 lakh
children went missing. Thanks to the efforts of committed organisations like
the Bachpan Bachao Andolan founded by Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi, some
children are traced and even rescued. But this is just a tiny drop in the ocean,
in comparison to what remains to be done.
Despite denial by successive
Governments, child labour is rampant all over the country. One sees little children working in brick-kilns,
in the stone-cutting industry, in zari works and in the cotton fields. A recent
report from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) says
there are an estimated 60 million children working in India’s agricultural,
industrial and commercial sectors.
Children are also the easiest victims of
abuse: physical, sexual and emotional. It is alarming to note that at least 50%
of India’s children are subjected to one or the other form of physical abuse
and this percentage increases when it comes to sexual abuse. Pope Francis draws
our attention to this painful reality when he prays, “May Jesus save the vast number of children who are victims of violence,
made objects of trade and trafficking, or forced to become soldiers.”
Even those who are privileged to go to
school often see their rights violated: like in Gujarat where they are
subjected to textbooks containing content that is prejudiced and lacking in
scientific temper and in some cases, blatant lies and myths. A child therefore
grows up in an environment where she or he is denied the possibility of being
open, tolerant and above all respectful to the other.
As adults of this world we need to
respond to the cries of children all over. We need to respond to them with a
heart full of compassion, tenderness and love and make every effort to help
save the children of today.
28th
December, 2014
(* Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is
the Director of PRASHANT, the
Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace.)
Address: ‘PRASHANT’,
Hill Nagar, Near Saffron Hotel, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052
Phone:
(079) 27455913, 66522333 Fax: (079) 27489018
Email: sjprashant@gmail.com www.humanrightsindia.in
Email: sjprashant@gmail.com www.humanrightsindia.in
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