KOZHIKODE: The Sri Krishna Janmashtami is supposed to be a time for celebration by the children. But in practice, they are tortured like the elephants that are taken out for parades during festivals. The children are made to tread kilometres for over four hours, be it on Sri Krishna Jayanti, Milad-Sharif or for church processions carrying the cross, according to a district child protection officer. “Increasing numbers of children are being used by religious, political and cultural organizers for their processions. Unhygienic water and food are served to the children. Besides, the processions hamper the free flow of traffic,” noted Mr Moosakutty, a lawyer.
This happens though a government order prevents taking out children under 14 in processions for more than three hours. The government order issued last year also stipulates that children should not be brought in procession curbing their educational activities or by force. During school days, children should not be rallied between 9.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. and on holidays, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. by means of force. The children participating in processions should take permission from the district collector and superintendent of police, as per the order issued in the wake of the recommendation of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KeSCPCR) which had received a complaint forwarded by Malappuram Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
Mr Moosakutty had filed the petition with CWC after witnessing the plight of children during three processions held in Tirur in 2014. “The organizers of every programme would tell that the children were rallied for less than three hours. But that is not the case,” he said. Earlier, the Malappuram district child protection unit had reported to the KeSCPCR that children had been taken out in processions by major religious organizations during auspicious days.
