Take Action against Traffickers
Jharna Das Baidya, CPI(M) MP from Tripura raised a Special mention in the Rajya Sabha on August 3, on the issue of recent cases of trafficking of 31 young tribal girls from Assam. She expressed shock at the trafficking of 31 young tribal girls from Assam to Punjab and Gujarat, in the name of education, to indoctrinate them in Hindutva at the RSS camps. This violates the national and international laws on child trafficking. The victim girls belong to Bodo and Santhal communities in Assam’s Kokrajhar district. They were all aged between 8 to 14 years. Anti-trafficking unit of Delhi Crime Branch opened it up after a complaint was lodged by Child Line India Foundation.
A report from the Outlook stated, “On June 16, 2015, a week after the girls were taken away, the Assam State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (ASCPCR) wrote a letter (ASCPCR 37/2015/1) to the ADGP, CID, Assam Police, and marked it to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, calling this
incident ‘against the provision of Juvenile Justice Act 2000’ and concluded that it amounts to ‘child trafficking’. The commission requested the police ‘to initiate a proper inquiry into the matter and take all necessary steps to bring back all 31 children to Assam for their restoration’. The police was asked to submit an Action Taken Report to the ASCPCR within five days of receipt of the letter. No action was taken; no report was filed; no cognisance was taken by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, which is monitored by the BJP-ruled Centre.”
The NCRB reported identification of at least 6,216 victims in 2014: 3,332 sex trafficking, 279 bonded labor, and 2,605 uncategorised victims. Human trafficking is one of the major problems in India. Till date no concrete study has been conducted so far to know the exact number of trafficked in India.
Some state and district level law enforcement agencies had actively partnered with NGOs to identify, rescue, and provide rehabilitation services to victims; but their responsibility concluded with the rescue operation and did not complete investigations or charge suspects. In other cases, police arrested and charged alleged traffickers, but some of the alleged traffickers posted bail and while awaiting trial – sometimes for several years – purportedly intimidated witnesses and subjected new victims to trafficking. Jharna Das demanded punishing of traffickers and strict disciplinary action against everybody involved in such a crime and only then this problem can be addressed, she said.
Several organisations held a demonstration thereafter courted arrest at RSS Head Quarters at Jhandewalan in New Delhi on July 30 to protest against RSS and its affiliates' blatant breach of all laws in trafficking of minor girls from the tribal areas of Assam.
The girls are purportedly taken from Assam on the pretext of 'educating' them. These girls are not in contact with their families for ever since they were trafficked.
The government should take notice of this gross violation of the law of the land and take action against the culprits (the Sangh outfits responsible for this) while simultaneously ensuring that a) the girls are returned to their families without any further delay and b) these nefarious activities of the Sangh and its outfits are not repeated.
