Girl-selling trade moves to Oscars
Rubina Ali of Slumdog Millionaire was auctioned off by her own father and uncle. Girl selling trade in the Third World countries may be traced back to the age old tradition of 'bride wealth' and 'denmohar' rituals in the ancient times.
THE NEWS created furore all over the globe. The nine-year old Rubina Ali is on sale. Who is this Rubina? Yes, we all know that she played Latika in the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. Was she really to be given up for adoption? Or was it just a tabloid gossip? Gossip or truth, rumour or fact, such incidents of selling girls in poor family are a common occurrences in the Third World countries.
Rubina is not an ordinary child. She is an 'Oscar child'. Rafiq, her father blamed the Hollywood for all the rumours. But if such things can happen to Rubina , then what about the hapless girls of the poverty-stricken families? A huge amount of money is only needed. That too is not always required. Pay ten thousand or less, you will get a girl from the slums - in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran or Bangladesh. Only the real statistics may be unavailable to us who feel concerned about such incidents.
In the Oscar winning film itself there are such incidents and girls and boys both are shown as victims of such attempts. In the dramatic masterpiece of British Indian literature Girls for Sale by Gurujada Venkata Apparao such a sad picture of selling girls is poignantly presented against the backdrop of Colonial India. Girl selling thrives in every part of Asia and all the third world countries. Poverty is the root cause.
Tribal girls are being sold in the far-off villages in India for a small amount of money, say 15000 to 17000 rupees. There exists such a well-greased system where agents supply the girls from the tribal families to the Hindu family. Many interpret the system as a contrivance for the downtrodden women to enter into upper class Hindu family. Many girls are converted for sale. But the worst thing happens when the girl is lost and, yes, lost for ever.
Many girls are tempted by the lure of glamour. Many of them are enticed by the agents to join Bollywood, Tollywood or even Hollywood but end up becoming victims of flesh trade elsewhere. In effect they leave their poor parents and sweet home only to get exploited, harassed and assaulted by unknown people of the unknown world.
There are rackets for sale of girls from BPL (below poverty line) family in the Indian states. The heinous nexus between smugglers and girls-traders is a strong bonding. The selling of girls is common among the poor in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the mountainous areas along the Afghan border, Pakistani laws are unenforceable and the infamous black markets of Landi Kotal and Jamrud thrive. The price of the girl depends on the colours of their eyes and skin. The price of the virgin girls is much higher. Girls of tender age are also auctioned off in these markets.
In earlier times, there was the tradition of paying bride wealth which was a kind of girl selling by the father. In Muslim families such a tradition of paying ‘denmohar’ (an amount of money paid by the bridegroom to the parent of the bride before finalising marriage) still prevails. This is different from the Afghani tradition of wife trading or the Shirbaha tradition (to pay money to the bride’s family as a payment for the money they had spent for raising their child).
But what is happening these days is dreadful, brutal and inhuman. Men were sold when the slave system prevailed. It was exploitation of man by man. But the trading of girls on the plea of their well-being is a social problem that has too deeply rooted to be wiped out.
 | Previous Post |
Login
 Login through Social ID
|
Not finding what you are looking for? Search here.
