No dawn for the midnight’s children

Deepa Mehta's adaption of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children gives a panoramic view of the troubled history of the sub-continent. Central to the film’s theme are the less privileged children born on that fateful day on the stroke of midnight when India was born. 

Though the fate of this country has changed over the last six decades; the fate of millions of poor Indian children remain unchanged. India is a home to the world’s largest malnourished children, and the country has desperately failed to provide safety and security to its children.

In the recent Delhi gang rape case, there is debate about the handing out harsher punishment to one of the rapists, who is a minor. Many have appealed for making an exception to the case and urged not to treat the convict as a juvenile. Child activist Nicole Rangel writing in The Hindu has passionately argued that the minor rapist must be given a chance to rebuild his life. Whilst his crime is horrendous, it also must be noted that we as a nation failed to protect his childhood. She notes that he has had ‘no interface with the state’, and he has never been given an opportunity to aspire for a different life. She asks should he be given a chance for reformation?

The answer is ‘yes’.  By reforming him and by inducting him into the main stream he could, potentially, in the future be instrumental in showing the right path to many other poor children living in depravity. His reformation process should be a long and well worked out process. It should be a part of a larger investment to create effective systems to safe guard children in India.

On the other hand, taking care of our children is the not responsibility of the government alone. The civil society also has a duty. In India, most middle class families employ domestic workers. For those who are well -off should try and invest in the education of the children of the people they employ.

Bringing in a law to that effect for domestic workers’ rights may be a dream, but the people of India, who have been rightly demanding for greater security of women following the Delhi gang rape, have also the moral responsibility to fix the society.  Innovative measures like tax rebate by the government for a family that pays for the welfare of the children of the people they employ at home could act an inducement.

The poor in this country, especially the children need our help. It is a mammoth task but the ripples of change can be created if the civic society, the government and the NGOs join hands. Hanging a minor is not an answer. If criminals in this country can be politicians, why should a minor be deprived be change to reform? We owe him this for a better future for this country.