Image via WikipediaNew Delhi News.Net
Friday 31st December, 2010 (IANS)
The Ghaziabad Police have arrested a woman engaged in human trafficking and rescued two of three Assamese girls sold here, police said Friday.
However, two other traffickers are absconding.
The police said they had received a telephone-message from the Assam Police a week ago about three Assamese girls having been sold here. The anti-human trafficking cell traced the woman but has been able to find only two of the three trafficked girls.
During interrogation, the woman confessed to having bought a girl. She revealed her identity as Parul, a resident of Shastri Nagar in Ghaziabad.
On her tip-off, the police found the girl at a roadside dhaba. She further revealed that another girl was sold in BB Nagar town of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. The police rescued the second girl also.
The Assam police informed that the three girls from Fakiraganj town of Dhubri district of Assam were abducted and sold in Ghaziabad. The girls were identified as Momrin Khatoon (25), Abida Khatoon (22) and Mazida Khatoon (16).
'Mazida was rescued from one Jai Singh's house in BB Nagar and Momrin was found from a dhaba in Shastri Nagar locality of Ghaziabad where Parul had placed her on a job to clean utensils.'
'Jai Singh fled from the house while Parul was arrested. The two girls have been lodged in Nari Niketan in Meerut and a hunt is on to recover the third girl,' SSP Raghvir Lal said in a press conference.
'The Assam Police is expected to reach Ghaziabad within two days,' added the SSP.
Source: New Delhi News.Net
Woman engaged in trafficking held in Ghaziabad | New Delhi News.Net
Responding to questions from lawmakers at a Congressional hearing wherein they expressed concerns over the increasing human trafficking in India, specially of the Dalits, Cdebaca said Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake cares very much about this.
"I think he saw it in his iterations in the embassies in the region, recognises that the South and Central Asia region is kind of a hotspot for a lot of this activity," she said.
At the same time, she praised the steps taken by Indian government in this regard. "We are heartened to see that India finally has characterised bonded labour as part of their trafficking fight... But bridging the federal and state gap in India will be critical," Cdebaca said.
"You can't devolve power on such an important human rights issue fully to the state and locals lest you do have simply those bright spots that we've identified whether in Uttar Pradesh or in Mumbai," he said.
"So we're working with the Indians to use our experience with federalism, use our fight as far as how we manage the interplay between local law enforcement and the federal anti-trafficking as an example of how they can deal with that problem," Cdebaca said.
Later, one of the experts David Abramowitz, director of policy and government relations at 'Humanity United', said they are trying to see if US President Barack Obama can raise the issue of the Dalits in some way during his India trip in November.
"I think if, you know, the First Lady were to meet with Dalits while she was in India that would have been amazing...," Abramowitz said.
"If she were to meet with a Dalit population to talk about the importance of education, those kinds of steps can have an important impact on raising issues in ways that are difficult to quantify but I think can have a real impact. I'll just leave it," Abramowitz said in response to a question from Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
Jackson Lee said: "I know the First Lady has many issues. She's an eloquent spokesperson, and so I would like to join in that effort and join also as raising my voice against this dastardly deed."
Abramowitz said the administration needs to ensure continued high-level support for US diplomacy on trafficking issues.
"Making a difference in perennially difficult cases laid out in the TIP (Trafficking In Person) report will require high-level diplomatic intervention. For example, will human trafficking be raised at or around the (US) President's summit with Prime Minister Singh of India later this year?"
Testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the hearing on global human trafficking, Mark Lagon, chair for the international relations and security concentration and visiting professor at Georgetown University, identified India as the "most significant place" for human trafficking.
Congressman Ed Royce said "the Indian government has made recent efforts to protect Dalits, but clearly much more needs to be done to eliminate a very longstanding and entrenched practice.
"As I said, no country is immune from the problem of human trafficking. Only with increased accountability and honesty can we help some of the world's most marginalised people."
Congressman Christopher Smith "strongly urged" the Obama administration to "undertake a comprehensive reassessment" of at least two watch-list nations, China and India, for "failing" to meet the minimum standards prescribed for not taking significant action to comply.
"Some years ago the UN Population Fund actually did a study and suggested that in India they are missing at least 60 million girls due to sex-selection abortion...," Smith said.
He hoped the Administration will take a good, hard look at this nexus between this terrible crime of forced abortion and sex-selection abortion and human trafficking, because it is only going to get worse.
"Of the 28 million people around the world that the UN considers human slaves, the UN recognises that most live in India and most are Dalit. Today, Dalits are the largest number of people categorised as modern-day slaves, so we really cannot have a discussion about human trafficking and not look at India and regard the problem of the Dalits," said Beryl D'souza, who heads the health care initiative of the Dalit Freedom Network, an Operation Mercy India foundation.
"Because of their poverty and the resulting desperation and lack of options, trafficking is not simply a problem the Dalits face. It is an atrocity that has swept Dalit culture in all parts of the nation... Their lack of access to education, health care and a living wage leaves most Dalits resigned to a hopelessness that, without an intervention, will not change," she said.
"Despite the bleakness of the situation, especially for India's 250 million Dalits, India is making progress in combating human trafficking. First and most notably, the country's top leaders have spoken into the public record that human trafficking is India's number-one social problem, with estimates of 100 million people involved," D'souza said.
The 2010 TIP report recognised Sattaru Umapathi as one of the nine global heroes, she said. An anti-human trafficking officer, he led rescue operations, contributed to multiple convictions, forged partnerships with NGOs and educated law enforcement community about victim rights.
Further, dedicated NGOs are combating trafficking through rescue and restore, as well as preventive and preemptive programmes.
"But there are still major challenges looming ahead for India. As we anticipate the publication of the 2011 TIP report, we recognise that India is at serious risk for demotion to Tier III if significant efforts at improvement are not initiated and registered in the next six months. Only seven per cent of India's police personnel have received anti-trafficking training," D'souza said.
Responding to a question from Congressman Ed Royce, D'souza said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has deserved an accolade for being bold enough to address the issue of human trafficking.
"I think the entire issue of Dalits has been a political issue in the Indian government ever since we've had our independence, and by boldly declaring that as an issue, it has led to more pre-emptive measures both from within the government as well as with the non-governmental organisations to deal with this significant problem," she said.
"If it is determined that there's no real progress being made, let's say, within India because it goes from 7 per cent to 7.1 per cent, the number of police officers trained, then those countries are going to fall down to Tier Three and therefore be subject to sanctions," Abramowitz said.
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, Northern India – Aug. 15-16, 2010In August, we visited seven villages in Uttar Pradesh, India, including the site of our own Freedom School, where 52 school sponsored children are now out of slavery and receiving top quality education. We were led by Bhanuja Sharan, the Director of our incredibly impressive partner agency MSEMVS. Many of the men, women and children in these villages have been rescued by MSEMVS from bonded labor slavery, in agriculture, brick kilns, stone quarries and carpet looms.
Some of the villages we visited were rescued last year, others as long as seven years ago, and the difference is dramatic! In the first village, Bhanuja explains that the process has only been underway for 18 months. The families here are all of the Dalit (untouchable) caste and many have been enslaved to powerful people (landowners, slaveholders, higher caste members) for the past three generations to pay off small debts incurred by their parents or even grandparents.
Standing in the village, meeting the lovely women in the self-help group, and listening to Bhanuja explain their situation, I suddenly became quite overwhelmed with emotion and tears began to well up in my eyes. This is not my style, and it was really not appropriate – nobody wants to be an object of pity, and anyway the predominant mood here is one of hope. I struggled to get myself under control. I come into contact with many tragic situations in my work, so I’ve trained myself to repress my sadness until I can process it in private. but for some reason, the courage and steadfastness of this particular group of
survivors broke through my practiced composure.
Thankfully, the sun was bright, so I whipped on a pair of sunglasses to continue the visit. 20 younger children, aged about 4-7 and 15 older ones were studying in simple thatched structures. These children were in slavery just a year or two ago, so they have some catching up to do before they can join a formal school. Also, the philosophy of MSEMVS is that the Indian government should fulfill their legal obligation to provide a school for these children – there is supposed to be a school every 2 kilometers for a population of this size. However, because of the pervasive cultural prejudice against Dalits, there are rarely schools in their area willing to accept them. While pressuring the district government to construct a permanent school, MSEMVS builds a temporary school and convinces parents in slavery to send their children to the school. This is the first step in the liberation of the entire community.
Because the project here is so new, many of the children showed signs of malnutrition (red, fuzzy hair is one of the signs, along with distended bellies) but their joy at having the opportunity to learn was unmistakable.
Back in the village square, we sat on the ground in a circle and swapped songs with the women’s income generation group. 
Theirs was a haunting melody –a guttural chant – which was sung by one group of three, then echoed by another, back and forth. We busted out an energetic but raspy version of ‘You are My Sunshine’. I used to sing professionally, but my voice is ragged right now from dust and minimal sleep and so much talking. There is so much planning and processing we need to do here in India – trying to figure out how to best use our organization’s resources to help survivors such as these. We spend a lot of time analyzing products, figuring out to improve them, adapt them to Western fashion trends, how and where we can buy raw materials, who is doing what, when and how.
The gift of this day, however, is to be in the present moment. It is hot and humid, but the countryside is green, fresh and beautiful – a welcome respite from a week in a city of 20 million (Calcutta). The women’s bright saris make a stunning contrastnn against the background of mud and brick houses, brown earth, and rice paddies is stunning. Although we can only communicate through a translator, it is great fun to sit with the women, look into one other’s eyes, share a smile or a conversation translated by Bhanuja, listen to their strategizing, and know that we are working for the same cause.
“You are women too, so you will understand,” says one woman. “We want the best for our children – to go to school rather than to work. And for ourselves, only the chance to choose our work, and to be paid for it, to care for our families and to help others. So I hope you will support us”
“We do understand, and we will” I promise. Who could say no?! Thanks in advance to our donors and customers for making it possible to keep this promise.
These who have now been rescued are now advocating and working for the freedom and uplifting of others in the surrounding communities. Their strength and positive attitude is truly humbling. Paul described it most succinctly in his text message later that night: “Hot and humid, flies on face, no food or bathrooms, five villages freed from slavery, best day ever”
In another village, the women told us that after they refused to work as slaves, the powerful people destroyed their road to the outside world. For two years, they fought to get a new one, travelling for five hours by tractor and bicycle to make their case with district authorities. One community member was killed in the process. Finally, the village prevailed, and they now have a fine new stretch of road connecting them to the rest of the world. I asked them what challenges they still face.
“Without challenge, there is no life,” the group leader replied. She went on to explain that there will always be troubles and challenges as long as you are alive in this world. But as long as they have their freedom, they are ready to take them all on.
We bought several thousand handmade glass beads from two of the villages’ women’s self-help groups. These beads will be made into earrings and necklaces by survivors of brothel slavery at our jewelry center in Calcutta. We watched some survivor-artisans creating the beads by turning glass rods on a tiny spit through a gas flame – a process called lampworking. It is a wonderful feeling to see up close how these familiar products (the glass bead earrings are a MadeBySurvivors classic) are helping to transform the lives of these former slaves and to make their once destitute and marginalized village into a place of hope and inspiration.
DAY 2 FREEDOM SCHOOL
On our second day with MSEMVS, we travelled to Chandauli district, about 3 hours from Varanasi, where we have been fortunate enough to sponsor a school in the village of Firojpur, at the invitation of Free the Slaves’ Ginny Baumann. Free the Slaves is sponsoring the other efforts to help the community to permanent freedom, including the women’s self help group, income generation projects and rights-based community outreach. Many instances of bonded labor had been reported from the village, so MSEMVS began an intervention in 2009, and the school was built last summer.
I was moved again to tears when I saw this simple but beautiful thatched school, and the 52 children aged 4-12, who are receiving a top quality education there. I felt honored to see our organization’s name, alongside Free the Slaves on a brightly colored sign.
Firojpur Freedom School, Yes!! New School supplies for Firojpur survivor-scholars
Just one year ago, many of these little ones were working alongside their parents in stone quarries or in agriculture to pay off ‘debts’. These villagers had been enslaved for three generations, and so the men and women I see – people of my own generation – have never known freedom until now. This is staggering to contemplate.
The children have either never been to school, or had been forced to leave school to work. Despite their lack of educational background, the kids are on track educationally – the older ones have advanced in just one year from kindergarten to class 3 and 4. My heart sang as I watched them reading ably in Hindi and English. Literacy will help to ensure that they will know their rights, can read a contract, and thus cannot be tricked into slavery.
Along with the three R’s, these children, and their mothers in the women’s self help group, are receiving intensive education about their human rights. As Dalits, they have been denied access to even the most basic and limited resources, some of which are available locally, but controlled by the higher caste people - education, supplemental feeding programs for babies and children, roads, clean water, health care and the right to earn wages for their work.
It is hard to convey the deprivation and despair of the village prior to MSE’s intervention – we saw the ‘before’ picture in some of the villages we passed through on the way here. Pervasive malnutrition, child labor, desperate poverty, hopelessness, isolation and fear. One of the greatest gifts of the school and empowerment program is that has united the neighbors and given them a strong sense of community. Before, according to Bhanuja, every family just stayed in their own hut – a shame and fear-based society which helped to ensure that no one would fight back against the powerful people. The untouchables had little contact with each other, and their only contact with the higher caste people was a relationship of slavery and abuse. Dalits traditionally live South of the main villages, Bhanuja explained. Their powerlessness was advantageous to people of higher caste. Though still poor, the higher caste villagers could feel better about themselves by degrading these people, and stealing what little resources were designated for them.
Things are different now.
We sat with the women in the self help group, and asked about their dreams and struggles. Like some of the freed villages we visited yesterday, the Firojpur women are putting forward a candidate for village head. They strongly believe that if the village head is not Dalit, then he or she will never make resources available for the Dalit community. Their only hope for inclusion and representation lies in joint action and peaceful advocacy. These women are truly walking in the steps of Gandhi.
The day ended with a visit to a very new intervention project which we were the first Westerners to visit. Thus the arrival of three tall blonde Americans caused quite a stir. I felt like quite the celebrity as the entire village of 200 plus gathered to listen in on our visit with the women’s self help group I could live a long time and see another thousand villages before I found a community so grateful for their freedom, so invested in their children’s future. We were humbled by their example. We have always been free, so it is easy to take freedom for granted. As little as these people have, they now feel rich with freedom and opportunity. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
When it was time to leave, the entire village insisted on walking with us to the road. I felt so blessed to be walking among them, not in front, nor behind, but all together, united in purpose. When we reached the car, one of the elders timidly asked if she could shake our hands. To us - a logical and unremarkable way to conclude a meeting with new friends. But for the Dalit, who have grown up being told they were untouchable, to shake the hand of someone you have just met is remarkable indeed. We joyfully shook the hand of every woman in the village, and everyone, including my team, began weeping openly. Many women took my hand to their forehead – representing the desire to take someone’s wisdom and experience into your own mind. I took their hands to my forehead, to my heart, for it is I who have so much to learn from their courage, and wisdom won through brutal experience. They have seen the worst that life has to offer but have not been broken by it. They know what really matters, and nothing and no one will stop them from fighting for it.
They are free.
