Born To Work

Child Labour in India

India! “The fastest growing economy” that’s what comes in our mind, when we speak of India but it is unfortunately only one side.

In India we can see some of the richest men in the world with the biggest industries. But on the other hand we can also see some of the poorest communities of the world. These communities can hardly make their living; they don’t earn even a dollar despite of their hard work.

The children of these communities are the most effected, they face a very tough life right from their child hood. They are not lucky enough to be cared in their tender ages. These children have to pay a huge price for their existence.

Child labour is at its peak in India despite hollow slogans from the Indian government. There are millions of children under the age of 14 who are working only to survive. They work for food, they work to be alive. The main reason behind child labour is poverty and growing population adds fuel to it.

These children are working everywhere. Some have to beg, some have to polish shoes, some have to collect waste materials, some are working in homes, some are working at heavy construction sites and some are working in factories, industries and mines in very unsafe conditions.

From premature age, they are forced to work at very low wages and sometimes for nothing. The majority of these children have no choice but to work. They are being exploited wherever they work.

When our children are having breakfast; they have to search for food.

When our children prepare for school; they prepare for work.

When our children are holding a pencil in school; at the same time they hold hammers, stones, wastages, pushcarts...

When our children are having lunch; they have nothing to eat or sometimes not enough to fill up their stomach.

When our children return happily from school after learning; they return miserably with kicks, cuts, wounds and harassments.

When our children sleep at home under the arms of parents; they sleep with dogs and diseases on roads under the open sky without knowing what will happen to them today or tomorrow.

The only question they ask is, “why have we BORN?”...

 

Zahid Qayoom Bhat

PATTAN IN HISTORY

Sankaragaurisvar Temple Pattan

Pattan is a small town located on Srinagar Muzafarabad national highway and it is some 27 KMTR’S north of Srinagar .In Kalhana’s Rajtarangni town Pattan is written as “Shankarpora Pattan”. Later Shanankarpora Pattan came to known as “Pattan”. In Sanscrit ‘Pattan’ means ‘water body’. During the kingdom of King Sankarverman, Pattan was the capital of Kashmir.

Pattan was a business centre for wool, livestock and grains. There was a lack of ground routes. So, maximum transportation took place through the water. As Pattan was situated near a water body, it was considered an important business centre.

Parihaspora Pattan

The Sugandesh and Sankaragaurisvar temples located in Pattan (locally known as Paandav Larie) were constructed by King Sankerverman. The temples are about 300 meters apart; both are declared as protected monuments by Archaeological survey of India. King Sankerverman demolished some old temples at Parihaspora and constructed two new temples at Pattan. King Sankerverman copied his father King Avantivarman, who had constructed similar temples at Awantipora.  An interesting point about the temples is that, how they (Pandav) managed to move these massive stones from one place to another? Perhaps they used large logs of wood within water to shift these stones to their respective locations for the construction of temples.

Ruins of   Sugandesh Temple Pattan

Sugandesh temple is at the entry point of town Pattan and Sankaragaurisvar is in the centre of town surrounded by chinars. These temples have a base of about ten feet below the ground. The big stones used in the construction of these temples might have been brought from Manasbal or some adjoining areas.

The Sikh-Nag Pattan

In the northern part of these temples, there was a lake known as “Pumbe Sar” (Lotus Lake). Today there now stands a residential area.

Within the foot-steps of higher secondary Pattan is an ancient spring, designed mysteriously containing some old sculptures, known as “Sikh Naag”. It was discovered during the regime of Maharaja Pratap Singh.

These historical monuments should not only be protected but they should be maintained from time to time. But unfortunately these monuments are a victim of negligence by the archaeological departments of India.  If these buildings are not repaired, there destruction is not away.

Zahid Qayoom Bhat                                                                                         

Fading culture of Houk sun

Zahid Qayoom Bhat

Mohammad Shafi, along with his wife, was cutting some vegetables into small pieces. Then they spread these vegetable pieces all around the lawn and left them for drying.

Shafi is used to this practice since his childhood. “We dry vegetables and use them in winter because there is scarcity of fresh vegetables in winter,” says 70-years-old Shafi.

These dried vegetables are locally known as “houk-sun”.

“In early winter days, there used to be heavy snowfall in winters Kashmir valley. All the agricultural activity stopped. Jhelum Valley Road, now known as Srinagar-Muzafarabad Road was the only link for the valley to the outside world. This road was blocked as soon as snow mounted up due to which import of food items, especially fresh vegetables, from Rawalpindi was also stopped. Then people used these dry vegetables from November to March,” says 67-year-old Abdul Aziz.

“The dry vegetables also keep us warm in winter,” he adds.

The mostly used dry vegetables were Wangan Hache (dried brinjal), Ale Hache (dried bottle gourd), Ruwagan Hache (dried tomato), Gogji Hache (dried turnip), Vapal Hak and Hund (dried jungle herbs), Bumb (a long dried vegetable found in marshy lands) and Huch Palak (dried spinach).

Besides these dry vegetables, some cereals and pulses were also consumed in winters such as Wari Muth (black gram), Razmah Dal (red gram), Mong Dal (green gram), Matar (dried peas), Chana (gram), Grim Dal (beans), Makai Aout (maize flour), Kinke Aout (wheat flour) and even Huggard (a small dried fish).

The tradition of using and preparing these dry vegetables was very common in Kashmir and continued until next cultivation. However, things changed after 1947. Tribesmen from Pakistan attacked Kashmir. Jhelum Valley Road was closed and construction of Jawahar Tunnel was initiated in 1950. Kashmir was now connected to rest of India through this 2.5 km long tunnel, which became operational since 22 December 1956.

Transportation became better after 1960. Now fresh vegetables and other food items were easily imported into Kashmir. People here gave up the traditional practices and became very dependent on other states for their agricultural needs.

Besides, advancement in agriculture like hybrid seeds and fertilizers made the valley self self-sufficient to some extent

“From being self-sufficient we have been rendered entirely dependent on other states. We have turned ourselves from kings to slaves,” says Abdul Aziz a traditional farmer.