8 A Cry Against

Exploitation Human 1Rights

Learning Outcomes
read the passage and understand the context
use antonyms and synonyms
understand the concept of active and passive voice
write an argumentative essay

Digital Desk Warm-uP

Social work itself with individuals, families,
concerns

to enhance social
cc ? gTOups and communities trying
functioning and overall well-being. Have you ever
contributed to any social work? If yes, talk about it. If
A A+ IA+ no, what kind of social work would you
like to do to
help the society?
G GC W DW

for the work done by individuals in their

Some civilian awards are given exemplary
respective fields.
1 . Bharat Ratna: This award is the highest civilian award of ndia and is conferred upon people
associated with the fields of science, literature, arts, public services and sports.
award. It is given for exceptional and
Padma Vibhushan: This is the second highest civilian
distinguished service in any field.
conferred upon individuals for
Padma Bhushan: This is the third highest award and is also
distinguished service of a high order.
4. Padma Shri: This is the fourth highest civiliarn award and is also given for distinguished

service
-
- Cross-curricular Connection
 Kend a story about a brave nnan and his figlht against the vices of socety.

While childhood is for many of us, there are

synonymous with playful pranks just
as many for whom
childhood is an indelible scar that they carrY With them lor the
rest of their lives.

Child slavery refers to enslavement of children below the age ot 18 tor profit, often

through violence, abuse and threats, in flesh trade, forced begging, petty crime and
drug trade. Enslaved children are forced to work as bonded labour in agriculture,
factories, construction, brick kilns, mines, bars, tourist industry or domestic work,

This not only deprives them of their

childhood but also interferes with
their ability to atternd regular school,
and is mentally, physically, socially
and morally harmful. Even though
such exploitation is prohibited by
legislation worldwide, child slavery
has been prevalent in the world,
especially in the developing nations.
Let us read the story of a man who believes that Freedom is Non-Negotiable' andis
on a herculean mission to help children in need.

Kailash Satyarthi was born as Kailash Sharma on 11 January 1954 in Vidisha, a small
town in Madhya Pradesh. His father was a police constable and his mother though
uneducated, was a very idealistic and helpful lady, who made a huge impression on
the mind of young Kailash. At a very young age, Kailash learnt Urdu from a Maulvi
at a nearby mosque even before he learnt English and Hindi.

At an impressionable age, Kailash noticed discrimination in society and was

deeply upset. During his early school days, he would notice a young child, the
son of a cobbler, waiting outside the school watching schoolchildren walk by. This
made Kailash question why the child was not studying in the school. He set out
looking for an answer. His first encounter was with his schoolmaster who told him
that children of poor people were born to work because they couldn't afford an
education. The inequality rattled young Kailash and he posed the same question to
his principal-also their family acquaintance, his parents, even to the cobbler, but

indelible: impossible to remove herculean: needing a lot of strength and

80 determination
got the same response. The thought of lost childhood and inequality left a lasting
impression on the young mind, whieh sowed the eeds of the Barhp
Bachao Andolan
Kailash took his first step in this direction by collecting sehool books from his
friends and acquaintances after the annual examinations and then distributing them
to young children who wanted to study but could not afford to buy those books
Kailash completed his graduation in Electrical Engineering from Samrat Ashok
Technological Institute in Vidisha and later took up a job as a lecturer at a college in
Bhopal. In the year 1980, he started Bachpan Bachao Andolan

Anound the same time, he started a magazine Sangharsh Jaari Rahega (The Struggle
Shall Continue), which documented lives of vulnerable people. He was shaken by
the prevalence of child labour in India and the fact that acute poverty often forced
of their
poor people to repay their monetary debts through bonded servitude
children.
In the year 1998, he led the global march against child labour travelling through 103
countries and nearly 80,000 kilometres and drew global attention to the grave issue
of child labour and exploitation of deprived children. This movement led to the
adoption of International Labour Organisation Convention 182 on the worst forms of
child labour in 1999.
Kailash Satyarthi was instrumental in setting up the GoodWeave International
Foundation, a network of non-profit organisations, aiming to end illegal child labour
in the rug making industry. Kailash fought tooth and nail to create awareness about
the extensive use of child labour and exploitation in the industry, to raise the stakes
for the industry, and to encourage the industry to manufacture rugs made without
child labour.
Kailash was also deeply pained and affected by the inhuman behaviour meted
out to manual scavengers or harijans by the upper class. The upper caste people
considered them untouchables. In the year 1969, the birth centenary of the Father
of the Nation was being celebrated and political leaders across the spectrum were
making pro-poor speeches full of passion, idealism and sympathy. This fascinated
the 15-year-old Kailash who wanted to become a politician, to cure the vices of the

society such as untouchability and child labour.

The harijans in Vidisha were not allowed to enter their homes through the front door
as they were considered impure. As a tribute to Gandhiji, Kailash decided to use his
servitude: forced to work for someone

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 dealism to turm the tide in favour of the socially excluded classes and organise a

community dinner, where food would be prepared and served by ijans in a clean
g i e n i c environment. People from the upper castes and local political leaders
were invited as guests to partake the food and spread the message or soclal equality
Many leaders and upper caste people gladly accepted the invitaton to participate in

the event. However, members of theharijan community were very skeptical about
the success of the tfunction. After a great deal of persuasion, young Rallash managed

to convince a few ladies of the community to prepare food for the occason.

Kailash and his friends had mobilised funds for this event with which they
purchased staples and vegetables for the event. Slowly minutes turned to hours and
SOon it had become quite dark and not a soul turned up for the dinner. Kailash and
his friends were more disheartened than the harijan community. The hypocrisy of
the political leaders and the society at large was clearly exposed. This made young
Kailash furious. A disappointed Kailash and his friends had to consume the food
prepared for the occasion well past midnight. As Kailash put the first morsel in his
mouth, disappointment was writ large on his face and he cried inconsolably.
The very fact that such an initiative was taken by Kailash, daring the society, was
well appreciated by the harijans. When Kailash went back home, he saw a furious
crowd of upper caste Brahmins gathered in front of his house. His family was
humiliated by the upper caste Brahmins. They also thundered that Kailash
had committed an unpardonable sin and that the whole family would be
excommunicated. After a heated dialogue, the upper caste community ordered his
family members to disown Kailash and shift him to a separate room in the backyard
of their house or face social boycott by the society. He was instructed not to enter the
house from the front and was given separate utensils. He tossed around the whole
night in that dark and dingy room for the rest of the night. His anger at the feudal
society and political class knew no bounds. He made up his mind that very day that
he did not belong there and did not want to be associated with such a hypocritical
community. He was miffed that the community and his family had made him an
outcaste and decided to forsake his surname. A few years later, he dropped his
family name and changed his surname to Satyarthi, a seeker of truth.

Thus, a shining star was born.

partake: to eat or drink something writ: (here) seen

skeptical: having doubts excommunicated: officially excluded from
hypocrisy: pretend to have moral a religious group
standards that a person does not have miffed: annoyed
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In the last 35 years, Kailash Satyarthi has successfully rescued over 83,000 children

and adults from child labour, trafficking and other exploitative situations in India.
His interventions have positively impacted the lives of thousands of children
working in industries such as carpet weaving, bangle making, circus industry

agricultural labour, stone quarries and brick kilns, besides domestic child servitude
across the world.

For his exemplary contributions to the society, he was

awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
In the recent years, two of his initiatives drew the
world's attention to the issue of child slavery. One
of them is the 100 million for 100 million campaigns
wherein he endeavours that 100 million privileged
youths and children across the world support their 100
million
not-so-privileged peers to break out of slavery, danger
and violence.
The second one is the 12,000 km Bharat Yatra from Kashmir to Kanyakumari,
unanimous
which he led along with child abuse survivors. The movement received
party lines, bureaucrats,
support from civil society organisations, politicians across

celebrities and faith leaders and led to the Union Cabinet approving The Trafficking
of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 in February 2018.
With each milestone, Kailash Satyarthi works harder to live up to a promise he once
made to himself, "I will see the end of child slavery in my lifetime.'

Watch The Price of Free to catch a glimpse of his journey on a noble mission.

Comprehension.
A. Fill in the blanks.
1. KailashSatyarthi was born as on 11 January 1954 in
2 At an impressionable age, Kailash noticed in society.
3. In the year 1980, he started the.
4. He was instrumental in setting up the. Foundation.
5. For his exemplary contributions to society, he was awarded the
in 2014.
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B Answer these questions
. What did Kailash notice at an impressionable age
2 What sowed the seeds of Ba
hpan hau huo Audolan
What led to the adoption of International Iabour Organisation ConUention 182

4 What did GoodWear International oundation do'

5 Why did Kailash drop his lamily name
Think and answer.
his
1. Describe Kailash's childhood in detail and the influences that shaped
early life.
to uplift thern
2 Explain in detail the plight of harijans and what Kailash did
Give to
believe that the caste system should be abolished?
reasons
3. Do you

support your views.

Word Wonder
Read these sentences.
These popular actors are very famous even outside the country.

her friend and constant companion when she was alone.

The dog was

The words highlighted in the above sentences are synonyms.

--- the
You have learnt that a synonym is a word that means exactly or nearly same

a s another word.

Now, read these sentences.

calmn
Despite a lot of commotion, Wendy was

and quiet.
This pasta is bland. I like my food to be spicy.

The words highlighted in the above sentences are

antonyms.
- - -
You have learnt that an antonym is a Word that means the opposite of another

word.

Rewrite these sentences by replacing the underlined words with their

A.
synonyms.
1. I hate the fact that I will have to cancel my trip.

2. They could not leave the auditorium till the interval.

3 The smell of the rotten fish was horrible.
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