The Railway police have intercepted hundreds of children from Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand, who were ferried into Kerala in jam-packed train compartments, on the pretext of being taken to orphanages. Ruling United Democratic Front’s ally Indian Union Muslim League and other Islamic outfits claim this is just a conspiracy to defame Muslim organisations. However, they have failed to answer why:
- Those who brought the children ‘jam-packed’ and hungry in train compartment were madrassah teachers. 466 children intercepted on May 24, mostly from Bihar and Jharkhand, were headed for a madarsa-orphanage, Mukkam, at Palakkad station.
- 123 children from Bengal intercepted the very next day were headed for a madarsa-orphanage in Malappuram district
- On being caught, dozens of adult companions of those children claimed to be the children’s parents. How were the children orphans then?
- None of those caught could show relevant documents.
- Some of the parents claimed they had handed the children over to “agents” for sums of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000.
A five-member team of officials from Jharkhand arrived and visited the children. Team leader Manish Sinha, a member of Jharkhand’s labour commission, said it seemed a case of child trafficking. However, thanks to appeasement politics, the police have lodged an FIR based on the charge of ferrying the children in inhuman conditions, and shied away from any charges of child trafficking. Of course, such a case will open a dirty bag of secrets: The secret of organ harvesting and the gulf connection to slavery and servitude for life.
Will Government of Kerala investigate this to its legal end?
