Who do children belong to?

Mr Kailash Satyarthi, has written an emotional article against child labor and suggested that there are only 2 solutions to this pernicious problem. One is to pass draconian laws to punish all those who employ children and to increase spending on children. " We have particularly asked for complete prohibition of child labor at least up to the age of 14 and of the worst forms of child labor or hazardous work up to the age of 18," he writes. Mr Satyarthi is the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize but we beg to differ from his suggestions. The Dowry Prohibition Act has been around since 1961 but it has not stopped women being killed for not bringing enough dowry. On the other hand, last year the Supreme Court found that vindictive women are misusing the act to harass their husbands and in-laws. Kidnapping, murder, rape and money laundering are all against the law, with severe penalties, but that has not stopped 186 criminals from getting elected to the Lok Sabha. We absolutely agree that children should be going to school and anyone employing a child should be punished severely but, if children are stopped from working, how does Mr Satyarthi propose to stop parents from sending their children out to beg? If we give money to a child beggar is it tantamount to employing the child? Mr Satyarthi has suggested 2 solutions without identifying the core problems. We suggest that there are 2 basic problems. The first is that there can be no restriction on who can have children or the number of children anyone can have and the second is that children belong to their parents, almost like property. There are strict laws against cruelty to animals, as there should be, but there are no such laws against cruelty to children. Children may not be left without adult supervision in other countries but in India it is common to see children, as little as 5 years of age, walking along a busy road all alone. Should parents not be punished for not caring for their children? Last November 2 men were arrested for the sexual assault of 3 teenage girls who were sold to them by the parents. What was particularly disturbing was the fact that the girls escaped once only to be sold back to the men again. Do the parents have no responsibility of care towards their daughters? Does poverty absolve you of any crime? Mr Satyarthi's second suggestion of spending more money is the usual socialist bunk pushed by Prof Amartya Sen, with Nobel Prize in Economics, which has kept India poor for 67 years. " The biggest travesty is the fact that there are almost equal numbers of adults who are unemployed. It has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that these unemployed adults are the very parents of these child laborers," says Mr Satyarthi. Precisely. Parents are making their children work. Make them responsible.