The NGO Save Child India has filed a complaint with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) registering their concerns over the fact that children are being used in protests as props. The NGO says it is a gross violation of the rights of children and calls it child abuse. This complaint comes after several children were seen raising slogans and protesting in Shaheen Bagh.
Filed a complaint with @NCPCR_ concerning the children being taken to protest without their consent, and special protections. We see this a Gross violation of #ChildRights and its a #ChildAbuse
Appreciating @iabhinavKhare taking the concern into light https://t.co/1rGWUupdvF pic.twitter.com/QgqwjHOMRJ
— Save Child India (@SaveChildInd) January 15, 2020
The complaint appears to be motivated in part by the recent anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh where disturbing visuals of children being used for protests were observed. The complainant, Kumar Sheodhvj Ratna, founder of the said NGO appeared to have taken it into account as the twitter account of the NGO had shared Abhinav Khare’s YouTube video which focused around the manner in which children were being used to further the anti-CAA, anti-NRC agenda of their guardians.
It’s a gross violation of #ChildRights for their vested interest.. The children who cannot even build view for political issues has been taken to agitation or protest?https://t.co/1rGWUupdvF
— Save Child India (@SaveChildInd) January 15, 2020
OpIndia.com got in touch with Ratna and he confirmed that the complaint was indeed motivated by the protests at Shaheen Bagh. He said that he had watched the video by Khare and was greatly troubled by the fact that these children who are not capable of giving consent, and were no older than 10 or 11 years old by his estimation, were being used to further a political agenda. In the video, the children could be heard raising slogans of Azadi and they were also raising extremely disturbing slogans. Slogans such as “Jo Hitler ki chaal chalega, woh Hitler ki maut marega” and “Jamia tere khoon se, Inquilab aayega” were raised by the kids.
Ratna said, “When I saw these things, it was really disheartening as I really couldn’t grab what these children were doing. They were talking of Azadi and they are 10 or 11 years old. They are children, they cannot even express their feelings, they haven’t formed an opinion and they have been taken to this place.” He continued, “I thought why were they taken there.. Were these children being taken for some vested interests? The thing was really painful for me.. The parents were using children as their property. How can you use these children as your property?”
It was emphasized that the children had not given their consent and also the fact that it was an area that is prone to violence and there’s not enough adequate protection for them. In the complaint, it is said, “That protest can be risky and that children can also face threats from authorities. This is a very critical concern to be considered that they might be penalized for what they have not done.”
The complaint also asserts that protests are as “important to a democratic society as voting, which routes the ideas can be promoted and debated. At the same, the states must facilitate their (Children) right to protest only after consent from children to protest, along with special measures in order to account for their potential vulnerabilities.”
It is also contended that although “adults may genuinely intend to further children’s rights, they cannot claim to speak conclusively for children and young people, because they are not a member of that group.” Several questions were also raised by the complainant.
The complaint demands that a minimum age criterion be set which mandates that children below a certain cannot participate in protests. It also requests that the parents who engage in such irresponsible conduct be detained. In the end, it asks that directions be issued to the appropriate authorities for due action in the matter. The complaint, although it doesn’t specifically mention anti-CAA protests anywhere, was motivated by the disturbing visuals coming from it.
Read: The make-believe world of Shaheen Bagh protests will come down crashing: Here is why
The protests at Shaheen Bagh against the CAA have witnessed an endless barrage of anti-Hindu bigotry. Calls of ‘Jinnah Wali Azadi‘ were raised by the protesters at the site among other things. In the most recent instance, a Hinduphobic poster denigrating the sacred Swastika was spotted at the protests, which was cheered on by the likes of Saba Naqvi.
