‘Children for sale’

THIS is apropos of the news item, ‘Girl for sale’ (Sept 18). Muhammad Ayoub, a jobless man, had taken his 12-year-old daughter to the Hyderabad Press Club where he offered her for sale.

Likewise, on Oct 12, Nadeem, a resident of Hyderabad, had brought three children with him at the press club for sale because of poverty, hunger and inflation.

Such incidents are becoming common gradually and parents are compelled to bring their children for sale at different press clubs of Sindh.

They, in their desperateness, hold placards bearing such announcements as ‘children for sale’ because they cannot afford to feed, cloth and protect them.

This increasing trend shows that our society has been badly fractured and has stopped cultivating the best values of love and affection for children.

The value of respecting children and their rights as being innocent has disappeared from our society.

This also shows that our institutions have not been able to dispense social justice among the poor.

Besides, unfortunately, there is no child protection law in Pakistan which could ensure respect and protection of children from their sale by their parents, or else, because of poverty, hunger, joblessness and inflation.

In 1990, Pakistan had ratified the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989.

The UNCRC’s Article 4 says that states parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of rights recognised in the present Convention.

Furthermore, in Article 35 it explicitly says, “State parties will take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form”.

After the ratification of the UNCRC, Pakistan has to provide complete social, legal, economic protection to children from such acts but after the passage of 18 years to its ratification still no concrete and visible measures have been taken to enable legislation like creating national child rights commission and bringing national laws in conformity with the UNCRC.

However, in 1996, the first draft of the National Child Protection Bill was prepared and since then it has been refused numerous times and lying useless.

Also Pakistan does have the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance, 2002, but it does not cover internal (or within Pakistan) trafficking or sale of children by anyone for any purpose.

ABDULLAH KHOSO

Karachi

Monday, 02 Nov, 2009 | 06:06 AM PST
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