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Generations of bonded laborers were released from from Charkhi Dadri in Haryana.
28th January is another red-letter day in the history of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA). BBA(SACCS) managed to rescue 60 bonded/child laborers from the stone quarries of Haryana. These laborers were in captivity for years on end. At the crack of dawn, the raid led by BBA(SACCS) Chairperson Kailash Satyarthi and a team of young activists managed to rescue three generations of bonded child laborers who lived in extremely hazardous conditions and did not know what the outside world looked like.
For them sustenance meant constant torture, half fed stomachs and abuses both verbal and physical from their heinous employer. It was as if destiny had nothing else in store for them.
Not until, the BBA(SACCS) intervened. After getting preliminary information, BBA activists stormed the quarries catching everybody unawares. A huge contingent of 60 men, women and children tasted freedom on this chilly January morning. At first they were shell-shocked but gradually the change started sinking in.
Sookhi Devi burst out while talking with Kailash Satyarthi. All my children were born and brought up in slavery, their children too were born and started working here. We were sold to several masters in these years. Our hands had never touched any money, except some wheat flour and salt with chilly for our survival, she lamented. Sookhi Devi(70), Baaga(30) and Santosh(9) were among those who represented three generations of bonded labor.
BBA(SACCS) complained about the situation of bonded laborers to the district administration several times, but it fell on deaf ears. An unofficial dictate of the Government of Haryana has banned the organization from entering it borders. However BBA activists took the risk and went ahead. Today the result is for everyone to see. These 60 human beings would not have seen a free world till the time they were dead. Now for the rest of their lives they would lead perfectly normal and free lives.
Posted on 2004-03-03
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