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| Probe report on begging by Kashmiri boys and girls | | | If reports about Kashmir boys and girls begging in Kolkata are true they call for proper Government probe to find out whether the reports are genuine or have been simply circulated to malign the Governments in Srinagar and in the centre. According to these reports,boys and girls from Kashmir have been seen begging in the streets of the capital of West Bengal state.Reports have stated that as a result of marked slump in the production of Lotus stem from the Wullar Lake,considered to be Asia's largest fresh water lake.Reports said that increasing level of pollution and encroachment have caused marked decline in the Lotus stem production that has raised the level of poverty and unemployment among a large section of people who used to eke out their living from the sale of lotus stem.With limited job options in the valley a number of boys and girls,reports said,have been forced to beg in Kolkata. Since about 30,000 people in north Kashmir depended on Lotus stem trade most of them lost their living following major decline in the Lot us stem production from the polluted Lake.
Reports have revealed that young Kashmiri boys and girls are seen begging around railway stations, bus stops, temples, mosques and other public places in Kolkata , West Bengal. And what is surprising and intriguing is the way a Pakistan based Newspaper,Jung,has,in one its reports,exploited the situation,by blaming India and its agencies for hatching a conspiracy against struggle for Azadi in Kashmir.The Newspaper has gone to the extent of having exposed the conspiracy hatched for weakening the struggle for Azadi. Begging of course is a social evil and there are laws to deal with it. One would not wish to see any young boy and girl of any background to be begging in Kolkata or in any other State of India. The instant remedy or a decent reflex should have been to make an approach to these Kashmiri boys and girls and ascertain the cause of travelling a long distance from Kashmir and begging in Kolkata. The follow up should have been to set up an emergency fund and arrange an accommodation until alternate means of income could have been considered locally or the Government of Jammu and Kashmir informed to provide for their decent living in Kashmir.
With signs of Pakistani agencies exploiting the issue it is time for the Governments in Srinagar and in Delhi to examine the matter and it would be better if a top intelligence agency was entrusted with the task of ascertaining whether the reports on Kashmiri boys and girls begging in Kolkata are true.And if these reports are based on facts the agency should be asked to find out the causes that led these boys and girls from Kashmir to choose a place like Kolkata for begging when it is no longer a secret that West Bengal's capital city is not as rich as one may find Mumbai, Ahmedabad or Delhi.Not only this.The Government needs to initiate measures for reversing the trend which has forced boys and girls to resort to begging.If one goes by its tradition and history the vale of Kashmir has two things which one does not find in a ny other state capital. The first being the lowest number of street beggars in the valley.One may find a row or two of beggars seeking alms while sitting outside religious shrines. Secondly,over 90 per cent labourers in the valley have their houses,even if small one,in Kashmir.These labourers, including masons, carpenters, pulmbers and electricians, enjoy two square meals in their houses.They do not lead as much a life of penury and misery as their counterparts in rest of the country lead.
The Government should find out whether some boys and girls found begging in Kolkata have genuine reasons to take to begging or have been engaged by Pak agencies for maligning the name of India and the Government in Jammu and Kashmir. |
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