Child Labour, Crime born from discrimination and helplessness

It's not a story of a journey or a travel. It's about one of the most regrettable part of our country. And that is Child labour. Child labour is such a big factor which can damage the backbone of a country and pull back the development of a new generation, future leaders.

Leguna Helper Child Talking to me

Yesterday I was going to Gazipur to see some garments item with my brother and another person. We took the route which to avoid the main road cause the students were protesting in the main roads for safe road transportation in our country. This is a good initiative by the students which is this going to make a revolution in our road transport and laws in our country. However, starting from Savar Nama bazar we ride a Laguna. The driver was about 45 years old. After the Laguna reached Radio colony some little boys who are about 8-10 years old ran and get in the Laguna and actually they were the helper of the driver. I was looking at those boys and became so astonished cause those boys were too little to do job of a helper.

They were asking fare from the passengers and travelling while standing on the bumper of the Laguna which was so risky for them but the main thing is they were only 8 to 10 years. At this age they should be in school at that time and should be in class two or class 3 but poverty make them to do this risky job for their family. This is the Rude and cruel site of our society Where we cannot secure our children's childhood where we cannot provide them a peaceful life with education, food and safe home I mean all the basic needs. Here system push 80% of them to do the hard work both physically and mentally. But this is the age when they are supposed to learn by playing in school, play various games, eat good foods and sleep in mother’s laps.

Leguna helpers in Savar

But poverty is the main obstacle here in their life. I know people will say that primary education is free and they don't go to school willingly. But not all of them are same. Most of them want to go to school but poor parents push them to go to work. I did a little video of them and tried to talk to one of them but he was so shy so speak in front of the camera. That was a fun moment and I going to show you this through @dlive.

I talked to him about their wages and he told that they get only 100-150tk per day. Even sometimes the driver doesn’t want to pay them. According to his information a leguna can earn 2500-2800tk per day. But even after that sometimes they don't get paid.

In the mean time I heard a loud voice and saw that one of the four the older one who is 11yrs old threatening the driver that he will chop the drivers leg in to pieces. Though he was telling this as fun but that pinched my sense bit. Cause at age what they will learn will stay as their basic in their brain. And that's why I think childhood labour is also a farm for creating Juvenile criminals. At this age they are using slang like older guys, they are threatening, they are knowing the reality, the struggle of living. This is changing their life. They become greedy for money and that led them to do crimes.

There are also other reasons. Drug dealers, smugglers, illegal body organ seller all are with their best effort to utilize these street children. Yes! I'm calling them street children because they are one sort of abandoned children. Cause in this very early age they are out of home and out of the sight of their parents. Most of them are already addicted. You can wonder how they are getting addicted? The glue sniffing addiction. They buy the glue uses for shoe and take a portion in a plastic packet or in a bottle or however they feel good and sniff them through mouth. After sometime they fall asleep and sleep like dead. When the woke up they found them completely self-unaware and start any kind of work to get the glue again and which pushing them to the crime. Smugglers, drug dealer, evil politicians always find these opportunities.

These ways child labours are getting abused. Their life getting spoiled. They are getting involved with crimes. Among them some become dangerous terror. As an example we can say the name of Kala Jahangir or Ershad Shikdar. Child labour is always a deniable part in our society which we are trying to prevent but still not successful. This underage labour class is a farm of underage crime and future criminals where I just told a little bit about the boys and will tell the miserable condition of street girls on some other day.