K Ela
It’s been alarming/worrying regarding the issue of children missing, children trafficked, small girls raped and murdered etc. But so long as we, as a community doesn’t take the responsibility together nothing will improve, worse is yet to come. Every mother with small children will have a worrying time till they see their children back safely at home from the school. The other day there was a report about a school girl being forcefully picked up right outside her school and taken off in a car. Fortunately, she escaped and now she is safe at home. But the matter doesn’t stop here. Whose little girl will be next? It’s scary. Its time all of us put our heads together and see where we can all work together. Unless all of us responsible citizens contribute our mite, no amount of complaining/grumbling/cursing/lamenting/blaming will solve any problem. Today I am asking this question to myself, and to you all dear readers, have we done our share of community responsibility? Let us first look within ourselves, see where we have failed, where we need to go forward and act upon. Can we explore some ways of dealing with this issue?
1. DMC members/Council Chairman/Secretaries/GBs/DBs mobilize youth volunteers (vigilance committee of young people) in their respective wards/colonies to keep track of movements of people in their areas. The above mentioned leaders can keep a proper record of households/residents in their wards/colonies, movement records of any new residents / any old residents of the colony leaving their area etc. If anything happens it will become easier for the community to cooperate and help the police to apprehend criminals in locality. Criminals are finding safe havens in many colonies in Dimapur, unchecked and unknown by others in the locality. If area leaders can also once in a while conduct meeting with residents and apprise them of happening in the areas and keep them alert and responsible of their locality and their children, this can also be of help. Every single resident can do responsible reporting (community policing) to concern authority if any suspect cases observed.
2. On the issue of education for poor and marginalized children, can the youth volunteers mobilized by the area leaders be given the responsibility to motivate the owners of the child domestic workers below 14 years to send these children to the nearest NCLP schools/SSA Centres/Govt Primary Schools? The area leaders with a commitment to do good for the welfare of the society can do this noble job of ensuring “Right to Education to every child below 14 years ”irrespective of caste/tribe/colour/race/religion/economic background. Deprived and exploited children tend to deviate to anti-social paths.
3. House owners/land owners thoroughly scrutinize their prospective tenants/existing tenants to make sure that criminals who might harm our children don’t find a space in our houses/buildings /lands /society/state.
4. Hotel /lodge owners/proprietors need to be aware of what’s happening in their lodge/buildings/hotels. Some hotel/lodge managers are hand in glove with criminals/traffickers. There are many hotel managers/hotel boys who make good extra money at the expense of poor helpless girls and women through criminal activities committed right under the roof of hotels and lodges.
5. Church pastors announce to their church members about the illegal/sinful practice of engaging child domestic workers at home depriving them of their right to education and their right to enjoy their childhood. Tell their members to send them to school, at least to the nearest Govt Primary Schools/SSA Centers/NCLP schools. Tell them perhaps that, ‘service to children is service to God’.
6. Police, Particularly the women Cell and Naga Women Hoho/Dimapur Baptist Women Union, if they can organize together consultation and coordination meeting particularly on women and children’s issues and work out ways how to prevent crimes against women and children and also how to go about in a coordinated manner dealing with such issues of rights of children.
7. NGOs, irrespective of their areas of focus/with or without projects create as much awareness and sensitization about issues of child trafficking in their respective jurisdiction, it will go a long way in educating the masses. The effort will not be in vain, it will be worthwhile.
8. If DNSU along with the Labour Deptt can check the illegal practice of child labor (workshops/hotels/dabhas/factories etc) in the district and direct the employers of child labors to allow them to go to the nearest school, the NCLP (there are 20 NCLP schools in Dimapur) will be a success. Dimapur district can boast of doing justice to NCLP and the good practice can be replicated in other districts as well. From Prodigals’ Home experience of running an NCLP (National Child Labour Project ) school for child labors at Burma Camp ( opposite fire brigade/DNSU office) , most of the child labors enrolled ( till date more than 100 had been enrolled since April ’09 ) keep dropping out for one reason or the other. Some very common reasons being (1) parents discourage them (2) employers prohibit them (3) they need to earn (4) no interest in studies etc. No conducive environment for education of child labors even if the children are interested. Employers of child labors need to take responsibility for education of children employed by them. They should give some free time for them to attend classes, if at all the child has to work and earn and help the poor parents. Good education and guidance is the key to responsible adulthood.
9. If the non-Naga community leaders like the Muslim Council, Bihari Union etc( from where major chunk of street children and child labours are drawn) can take the responsibility of educating their poor community members the importance of sending their children to school and the illegality of engaging their children into child labor, future will be much brighter. Most of the children deprived of decent education and proper guidance grow up to be criminals/anti- socials. If the non-Naga community leaders can keep a check among their community members of committing crimes/anti-social elements, this will prevent community clashes and enmity between communities for crimes committed by any community.
These are random ideas/thoughts that I am sharing out of concern for our children and effort towards a safe and secure and just society for our children, believing in the strength of community responsibility, that we all can do something together for the good of our children. Anti- social elements can’t harm our children if community takes the responsibility together. Through our small gestures of love/ concern and responsibility, let every child learn to find love and security in our land.
