Nobel laureate launches book, recounts tales of child rescue

Tribune News Service

Samad Hoque

New Delhi, December 10

Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi today launched his book titled ‘Why didn’t you come sooner?’

The book includes 12 comprehensive accounts of rescuing children from slavery, including tales of domestic child labourers, children working in stone quarries and trafficked children.

Three ‘protagonists’ — Ram Kripal, Vijay and Kanhaiya — were felicitated at the event for their work at the Kailash Satyarthi Children Foundation.

Kripal was rescued from a stone quarry in Faridabad, where he was working as a child labourer. Following his rehabilitation, Kripal went on to become a teacher, and is now referred to as a ‘guruji’ by many children in the organisation. He is now working as General Manager at the Bala Ashram.

Vijay, who was a bonded labourer in a brick kiln in Sitamarhi in Bihar, has been instrumental in rescuing many children as well as in their care and protection. He also holds a master’s degree in social work.

Kanhaiya hails from Chhattisgarh. His father had taken a small loan for his sister’s marriage, but could not return the amount on time. Therefore, he was forced to work as a labourer by the zamindar. He is currently a teacher of music and art in the Bala Ashram.

Describing the book’s title, Satyarthi said the question was first asked by a young girl after he rescued some children in Haryana.

He said, “The girl was born in slavery, her parents were born in slavery and her grandparents were trafficked from Rajasthan to work in a stone quarry in Haryana. There was no freedom for three generations.”

Satyarthi recalled that he was driving fast because it is always dangerous and risky. He said, “I offered them bananas to calm them down, but they started eating bananas without peeling. This simple thing speaks volumes about the long journey from slavery to freedom.”

The Nobel laureate said suddenly the girl, Devli, who was sitting beside him in the car, put her hand on his shoulder with a mixed feeling of anger, belongingness, trust in the society and pain.

“She asked (in Rajasthani), ‘Kyun re pehle koni aayo?’ I was in tears and also because this was the first moment of hope or trust from the society.” he added.

The Nobel laureate also recounted stories from Africa about a group of children who were working in a cocoa beans plantation, but had never tasted a chocolate. He said these children had been working as slave labourers at the cost of their childhood, education, future and dreams.

Recalling another story from Africa, about a Sudanese child-soldier, who was a survivor, he said the boy later marched with him in 1998 demanding for an international law for eradication of all forms of child labour.

He said, “He was always traumatised, he did not interact with anyone. So I began eating next to him so that he will speak someday. One day he asks, why do you always try to convince us that we are children?”

“He was a 14-15 years old, he asked me do you know my story, who am I?”

Satyarthi said the boy was kidnapped by an insurgency group, who tried to train him to use a gun. After a week or so, they blindfolded him and brought him to his village, where he was asked to use a machine gun to kill people and a man stood behind him, threatening to kill his family, if he did not pull the trigger. He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger and fainted after some moments. They left him behind on an empty road.

The boy asked Satyarthi why was he organising these marches, if he could not stop this? “I am no more a child, it is too late for me start a normal life,” the boy told Satyarthi.

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