Not much is to be seen in the crossing over of Anju Thomas to Pakistan

These days love stories of two women namely, Anju Thomas and Seema Haider (Sachin) have become the talk of the town. Both crossed the borders of their own respective countries to meet their loved ones. The latest one is Anju Thomas, who went from India to Pakistan to marry her lover, Nasarullah. Seema Haider has already been living in for nearly two or three months in India with her new husband Sachin Meena in NOIDA. Their love stories started almost in the same manner through chat on their mobile phones but thereafter the similarity ends. While Seema Haider (Sachin) says that she has bid on Pakistan forever. It is now a closed chapter for her. She says that she would rather die in India than go to Pakistan. She has converted to Hinduism and has been observing all the rites and rituals of her new religion.
Anju Thomas, on the other hand, is still indecisive. Sometimes she says that she would go back to India after her tourist visa gets expired. But sometimes she says that she would always remain with her new husband. Nobody knows whether she will come back to India or would stay put in Pakistan. Arvind Kumar Thomas, the previous husband of Anju Thomas is not ready to own her.  On the other hand, Ghulam Haider, the Pakistani husband of Seema says she is welcome if she comes back. This shows the insincerity of Ghulam, where divorce is more a rule than an exception. Anju Thomas says that she converted to Islam to marry Nasrullah, although there was no need for her to have converted to Islam because intermarriages between Christians and Muslims are permitted under Islamic law. Such marriages are called Quitabia marriages. However, if she has converted to Islam, it is good for her. In India, Special Marriage Act exists that allows marriages between two religionists without changing their faiths.
A mountain is being made out of a mole that both women have links with any spy agency. The fact is that nothing can be further from the truth in branding them as spies looking at their status, education and social connections. Anju Thomas should also be allowed to take her children to Pakistan if she wishes to keep them with her new husband. As far as Seema is concerned, it will be a slur on humanity if a distraught woman like her is forced to go back to Pakistan where the lives of her children and her would certainly be in peril. 

Only sensitisation and crackdown can stop Child labour

 

 First of all, here is news, which has been flashed across all newspapers that an airline Pilot couple in Delhi, who allegedly hired a 10-year-old girl as domestic help and tortured her, were arrested a few days back, and have been sent to jail. According to police, medical tests showed that the girl had sustained some injuries and had burn marks. A case has also been registered against the couple. While the Police are investigating the torture of the minor girl, data shows a substantial increase in child labour during the last year. The statistics show that 311 children were rescued in Delhi itself till June this year in contrast to 107 in the same period last year. It has also been reported that 22 people were arrested under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act this year, whereas only eight people were taken in by police in 2022.

 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act was enacted in 1986 to save ‘childhood’. As per law, nobody can employ children below the age of 16 years and employment in hazardous industries is prohibited for up to 18 years. Be that as it may, the law is observed more in breach than in its adherence. There are many forms of child labour, including rag-picking restaurants or dhabas, eateries, hotels, garment industries and manufacturing units in hazardous conditions. Once they are in employment, they lose childhood and have to face emotional stress, mental trauma and abuse from employers or other people. They remain deprived of parental care.

According to a survey after the children are rescued, they are often shifted to another place by the syndicate that offers them employment. The absence of an Aadhar card or bank account number makes it difficult for them to get compensation. Therefore, the need is to make extensive use of technology to rescue and rehabilitate the children. The Modus operandi of child traffickers has not changed much because they hardly come into the net of the law. They target vulnerable children from remote villages, brainwash them, assure them of good life and education etc.

There are a number of organisations that are engaged in protecting children from being given employment. ‘Bachpan bachao andolan’ is one of them for which it has been internationally recognised. In India Ministry of Women and Child Development works for the welfare of women and children but it beggars any logic as that why it is not technologically equipped to rescue and rehabilitate child labourers. A better governmental approach is needed to be adopted across the country to curb the bane of rampant child labour.

There is also the need to sensitise the general public about child labour. However, what was being done by the Pilot couple in Delhi to torture a ten-year domestic maid is a stigma for humanity. The law must be strictly implemented so that nobody could think of employing any boy or girl below the age of 14-16 years. There must be a crackdown on such factories, manufacturing units and persons. Resident Welfare Associations must also be roped in to prevent child labour. Their Aadhar cards and bank accounts must be kept in place so that they are not moved to other places and the compensation amount directly goes to their accounts.

It is in the interest of the country to stop child labour as when children are brought up in an environment that fosters intellectual, physical, and emotional development, they become responsible citizens and contribute to the development of the society and economy. Whereas children who are forced to work in hazardous conditions lacking self-development opportunities tend to be malnourished, suffer from poor cognitive and behavioural development, premature ageing, physical disabilities, drug dependency etc.

Moreover, child labourers come from impoverished conditions and are trafficked from their native places to those places where employment is offered to them. They have no protection, and their employers control them completely. Children are forced to work for long hours for meagre or no wages. Such children are often ill-treated by their employers. All these issues can affect a child’s mental and physical health severely.

Poverty is one of the root causes of child labour in India. Poor economic conditions force parents to depend on their children to help them inside and outside their homes. These children are forced to drop out of school and become a source of income for their parents and social security during old age. When children are not allowed to pursue learning and skill development opportunities that will enable them to get decent jobs in the future, they become trapped in the intergenerational cycles of poverty.

Another major cause of child labour in India is unemployment, especially due to natural calamities, pandemics, conflicts and war. Natural disasters or the loss of parent forces children to work and support the rest of the families. Therefore, the holistic approach must be adopted by the government and other sections of society.

Seema Haider Must be Protected

Controversy has flared up across the country over Seema Haider, an illegal migrant from Pakistan to Greater NOIDA of Uttar Pradesh (India) to live with her lovelorn new husband. She claims to have converted to Hinduism and has married a Hindu Sachin at Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu (Nepal).  She has illegally come to India along with her four minor children but not to create terror or law and order problems. Some people are looking at it as a big security threat because she comes from Baluchistan in Pakistan, they conveniently forget that crores of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas are illegally living in India for decades and are eating into the vitals of our economy.  Many of them have even obtained forged documents to be citizens of India. But here is a woman, who has come to marry a boy five younger than her in age and belongs to the Hindu religion.

She is being projected by some as a security threat to the country. Nothing could be more ridiculous than this misconceived belief.
Can a woman of hardly any connection with either the Pakistani or Indian establishment pose a threat to the security of the country? Her previous husband, who has deserted her for many years, is now asking the Indian government to repatriate her to Pakistan, where if she goes back would surely be killed. This woman Seema has been swearing her loyalty to Mother India and to the religion of her husband and has taken shelter in India and is now in the full glare of the media. And there is not even the remotest possibility of her having any truck with Pakistan or her erstwhile husband. How can she be a threat to India, that too, when she has come with four minor children? Can anybody raise this doubt if she were from any other country like Russia, China, Ukraine, Indonesia, England, Germany, Italy, Canada or Japan? No, never. In fact, an Italian lady lost the chance to become the Prime Minister of the country by a whisker.

Giving refuge to a harried and harassed person is a part of our culture. We cannot throw her to Pak vultures. Certainly, those illegally coming to India in lakhs have their nefarious designs. They create a threat to the safety and security of the country. They often cause formidable problems to the law and order of the country. Even otherwise also, there is no dearth of fifth columnists, who work, day in and day out, against the country. They have sold their souls to enemy countries like Pakistan and China. These serpents in the arms are the firsts to forecast this poor woman as a Pakistani spy but they keep their eyes, ears and mouths shut over the illegal influx of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. 
There is no doubt that our BSF should have state-of-the-art technology and enough training to ensure that no illegal person gets entry into India as thousands of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas have practically inundated some parts of the country. But to throw Seema out of the country to Pakistan will be an inhumane act and will amount to setting a bad example for our great country. She should be given shelter in the country with open arms as no trace has been found against her to have indulged in any clandestine, and inimical activity.

Education System Touching Low-ebb

 University and College teachers' appointment processes and interests have changed beyond recognition in the last four to five decades. My father-in-law Dr Sabhajit Mishra, a retired Professor and Head of the Philosophy Department of Deen Dayal Upadhyay University of Gorakhpur, says that in the seventies the salaries of university and college teachers were not as lucrative as they are today yet the desire among good students to become university teacher was very high. The yearning to learn more and excel in their fields was unbeatable. Dr Mishra tells the story of a Professor at BHU, who used to commute from his home to the university on a cycle because he could not comfortably afford any motorised vehicle, however, his enthusiasm to purchase books was seen to be believed. It was generally seen that after collecting his salary every month, the first thing that he used to do was to go to any big bookstore to purchase the new arrivals of books.

 

See the contrast, in present times the teachers spend little on books and they spend more time on the sale and purchase of properties. No wonder that in Delhi, most of the government schoolteachers are found to be busy in property dealings. They devote little time to teaching the students but more to property business or tuition. The situation, however, is not so bad in colleges and universities but it is certainly not very conducive to learning and imparting good education. It does not mean that everything was hunky-dory earlier, but it was definitely not as bad as it is today.

It is openly talked about that money plays an important role in the appointments of college and university teachers. It is not a secret at all that the rates have been fixed for posts-wise. Speak to any University teacher and he/ she will admit that even in the appointments of the Vice-Chancellors and the Principals, money changes hands. Some say that even high-ups like Governors and Ministers do accept bribes for the appointments of Vice Chancellors.

This situation, if not stemmed, may lead to unfathomable degeneration of education in the country. While copying in the examinations by the students in cahoots with unscrupulous teaching staff has already caused enough damage, bribery in the appointments of teachers and Vice-Chancellors is bound to irredeemably shatter the system.

The government(s), the public and the educationists must all  have to wake up to the reality otherwise education is bound to  go into the hands of mafia dons

Unidorm Civil Code is a Welcome Move

  

Article 44 of the Constitution of India says: ‘The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India.’This was made clear by the makers of the Constitution of India more than 7 decades ago, yet it is still not fulfilled and is being debated at various fora about its utility and applicability. Thus, it is long overdue and should have been implemented in the early fifties. Then there would not have been any need to introduce the Hindu Code Bill. In fact, no nation can become strong and cohesive if it contains different laws and rules for different communities or persons living in the country. Our Constitution speaks of equality and non-discrimination on the ground of caste, creed or sex yet when we find that the discrimination continues in many ways and sometimes it is used as a tool by some people for their ulterior goals. The most unfortunate part of it is that while equality is demanded but the Uniform Civil Code is opposed on the ground of personal religious freedom. Its opposition is neither in the interest of the country nor of the people. Thus, it will be in the interest of the country and all citizens that the Uniform Civil Code should be made applicable across the country without wasting further time.

Why at all the common civil code needed?

A question is often posed why should there be Uniform Civil Code? As it is stated in the outset the common civil code under its umbrella will bring about cohesiveness to different sections of society and will ease the problem of law and order. Unity in diversity is the characteristic of India but diversity does not mean different rules, regulations and laws for different communities. For example- the law of marriage and divorce should be the same but how the marriage is solemnised in different parts of the country is nobody’s business because that does not create any problem for the State and the same can be maintained as a unique feature.

A Uniform Civil Code means that there has to be uniformity in marriage, divorce, guardianship acts and in matters of inheritance. At present, we find that while the women of all religions enjoy complete freedom the women community of the Muslim community are highly discriminated against their male counterparts. It is as clear as daylight that when the Uniform Civil Code is made applicable across the country there will be no need for the Hindu Code Bill, Hindu Marriage Act, Christian Marriage Act or even the Special Marriage Act etc. Once marriage is solemnised each individual will have the liberty to enjoy uniformity; while at present a Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Persian, or Christian man or woman do have to follow the rules of the marriage and a man or a woman cannot divorce his or her spouse at his or her sweet will without any solid rhymes or reasons as specified in the Act but, on the other hand. Muslim women are placed in a highly disadvantageous position as compared to Muslim men. Muslim women cannot even think of divorcing a man as per Sharia law, the most they can think of is 'Khula' i.e., separation, which is well-nigh impossible in the society they live in. However, this freedom is available to Muslim males, which is mostly misused by them.  Although Talaq- e - Biddat i.e., pronouncing talaq three times in one go has been prohibited by the Supreme Court of India. It says that Talaq- e- Biddat is illegal yet the pronouncement of talaq by stating it three times in three months is still holding the ground. This will certainly go away once Uniform Civil Code is adopted and it will render massive relief to Muslim women.

 

Age of Marriage 

Men and women in all communities get to grow up at certain age, then there is no point to have different age groups for marriage in different communities. For example, while Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Persian males can marry only after attaining the age of 21 years and women can marry only after the age of 18 years, Muslim men do not have any such age bar. It is ridiculous to allow women to marry immediately after attaining the age of puberty which can be between 10 years to 12 or 13 years. This is highly discriminatory against Muslim women which needs to be done away with.

Likewise, it hardly needs to be said that monogamy should be strictly adhered to by all communities. Presently, while all other communities have to follow monogamy, Any violation of it invites the wrath of Section 494 of the IPC, which says:  ‘Marrying again during lifetime of husband or wife.—Whoever, having a husband or wife living, marries in any case in which such marriage is void by reason of its taking place during the life of such husband or wife, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine’. What is most shocking, is that Muslim women have to bear the brunt of living with four women, if and when their male counterpart decides so. There is no merit in the logic that only a minuscule minority of Muslim men go into polygamy. But why such absurd and laughable liberty should be given to any section of society?

 

Guardianship and Adoption:

Discrimination is visible among Muslims and other communities. While women of all communities enjoy the privilege of adopting a child, it is denied to the women of the Muslim community. The guardianship right is also discriminatory, and it violates fundamental rights.  And therefore, must be done away with. Such anomalies are found in the case of inheritance and distribution of property and maintenance. Such discriminations make a mockery of the laws of the country.

Therefore, Uniform Civil Code should be enacted without any further waiting, and it should be rigorously followed. There should be no objection from any side, particularly when there's no objection to Uniform Criminal Code, which is welcomed with open arms even by Muslims, who do not want Sharia to be imposed.