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Analysis
Delhi's Two Children,
Two Freedoms
by Col. Rahul K. Bhonsle
Two children in India
were freed on Friday from two different states of bondage. One, the much hyped
case of Anant, 3 year old son of Senior Vice President of Adobe Naresh Gupta who
rejoined his parents in their plush residence in Sector 15 A of the National
Capital Region’s, NOIDA District after released by his kidnappers. The cherubic
child was fortunately unharmed both physically as well as mentally and seemed to
be in good cheer, quite unaware of the threat of death posed by his kidnappers
and the Rs 50 Lakh ransom reportedly paid by his father. Anant resumed his
pranks with his sister and friends and will surely grow up to memories of
friendly “uncles” who fed him chocolates and toys, while in captivity.
 Anant
also became an instant television celebrity and appeared quite comfortable with
the attention of the flash bulbs and television mikes pushed into his arms by
enthusiastic journalists happy to be part of the melodrama. The mystery of his
return home will remain as the police claimed that they had caught one of the
culprits and also retrieved the ransom money.
The recovery of the child was indeed fortunate for the badlands of Western Uttar
Pradesh in India are known as India’s Wild West, dominated by gun culture.
Kidnapping, extortion and ransom is considered a macho activity in tune the
martial traditions of the ravines and rugged terrain across the expanse of the
districts of Fatehgarh, Meerut, Shahjahanpur, Badaun, Mainpuri and Etah, some
home to many of the states ministers and renowned political class. The gun is
the most prized possession in this area and the ability to obtain an arms
license for supporters determines the popularity of a leader, many times, the
sole election winning factor. The victims as little Anant are targeted based on
the parents ability to pay and the ease with which the operation can be carried
out. The support network of the child is effectively penetrated and the
kidnapping conducted at the most opportune time. This operation too went off
well except for the fact that Naresh Gupta was a well known personality, heading
a multi national in India and the authorities feared that any untoward incident
would affect the prospects of growth of IT industry in NOIDA. It was thus
natural that the police quickly swung into action with even the Chief Minister
of the State, chipping in.
The second child to be released from captivity of another kind was Ritesh, a 13
year old who was rescued from a zari factory again in Delhi, the national
capital. The boy is one amongst three children of an unemployed woman who was
struggling to eke out a living after the death of her husband. The Labor
Department of the State promised to rehabilitate, the child a singular boon to
the mother who is finding it difficult to make both ends meet.
Ritesh’s story did
not lead to any head lines or attention grabbing in the media, except for the
Indian Express, the only national daily which covered it after changing the name
of the boy for understandable reasons. Yet it demonstrated the other side of
bondage of children in India, of impoverishment, forced labor and abuse. The
exploiters of such children as Ritesh are no less despicable as the kidnappers
of Anant, probably more so. They neither provided their victims chocolates nor
proper compensation, but only frequent thrashings as seen from the scars on the
hands of the child indicated in the Express report.
Surely Anant will recover from the trauma of his kidnapping. He has an excellent
support system at school and home, of wealth, affluence, loving parents,
relatives and friends. The same may not be true of Ritesh. The scars of being
forced into labor in the pre teens, of losing the bread that he earned for his
family, of the constant abuse at the hands of his employers at an age when he
should be putting pen to paper if not rolling a computer mouse or playing
cricket and football are not likely to go away soon.
Ironically both these children are from the Capital, hence they have received
adequate media attention, Anant overly so and Ritesh by exception. What about
the hundreds of others who are in varying stages of captivity in the country?
May be some day when they are freed, India would have attained true freedom.
November 19, 2006
Top | Analysis
The Week of November 19, 2006
After Nuclear Deal Will India Enter A New Phase?
by Rajinder Puri
Abject surrender? A tale of Subversive
Anti-nationalism by V. Sundaram
Blooming Bothaism by J. Ajithkumar
The SEC-Hypnos, Not Argus
and in need of Tchai by Gaurang Bhatt, MD
A National Program for Organized Looting by
V. Sundaram
Does Advanced Knowledge give Power to Solve
Human Problems? by TA Ramesh
Is Life an Illusion? by Arya Bhushan
Money Making Education in the Offing by Kusum
Choppra
Delhi's Two Children, Two Freedoms by Col.
Rahul K. Bhonsle
Remembering a Brave Lost Generation by V.
Sundaram
How to Make your Will? by Rajesh Talwar
Adonis: The Avatar of Avant-Garde Arabic
Poetry by PGR Nair
A River Walks Through It by Attreyee Roy
Chowdhury
Sita: Dheere Chal, Ham Haaree E Raghubar by
Satya Chaitanya
Landslide Spells Doom for the Land of Seven
Sisters by VK Joshi
If Only ... by Julia Dutta
The Daydreamer by Dibyendu Ghosal
Nasty Note by Ashwini Ahuja
A Long Way from Freedom by Hasan Mansoor
Keeping the Faith with Children by Barbara
Lewis
Gizmos for the Other India by Chitra
Balasubramaniam
Mommy Blogs: Cyber Support by Neelima P
Theater Therapy by Fehmida Zakeer
Drowning in the Oil Spill by Ma Diosa Labiste
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