Kailash Satyarthi

Kailash Satyarthihttps://globalmarch.org/our_team/kailash-satyarthi-2/      A boy stands in the footsteps of his school with his pastel notebook and his leather-clad sandals. He notices the glamour on the faces of those with clean, tidy uniforms, and the dirt on the bodies of those he isn't allowed to play with. A question forms in his mind as to why individuals are put in this position. That question never leaves him. Such is the story of Kailash Satyarthi, an activist born in India who has taken major strides to help kids like those he remembers from his childhood. For decades, he has been working to free children of the world from slave labor and help them build lives of their own (Satyarthi, Kailash). Since he was a young engineer, he knew his purpose in this world was to get people in major metropolitan areas to recognize an issue that had been largely looked over by those in the third and the first world. Over 80,000 children in India have been saved by Satyarthi’s organization. His work in Southeast Asia has caused child labor in the region to drop by 70% of what it used to be (“Kailash Satyarthi”). He has reached the hearts of those all around the world and has founded organizations like Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save The Children Movement) and the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude. Although Kailash Satyarthi has been shunned for decades by his country for his actions, he has poured his heart and soul into his cause to care for children suffering from labor and has never backed down from any challenge pitted against him.

      Kailash’s ability to care for others and spread his message of goodwill displays his passion for his cause. Kailash will never back down from an opportunity to save children’s lives:

Satyarthi has vowed to try to free any child who is suffering enslavement. When necessary, he still conducts daring raids on factories harboring      illegal child laborers. In June 2005, he raided a factory in Delhi, India, saving the lives of 29 children being forced to work there. He had been tipped off by an 8-year-old boy who had escaped his bondage at the Delhi factory, where he had been beaten and fed only one meal per day by the factory owner. Satyarthi claims the smiles on the faces of the freed children make it all worthwhile. (O’Meara)

Usually, celebrities help the less fortunate to gain praise or to higher their public opinion. Kailash doesn't try risky operations for appraisal, he gets the opposite. Government leaders think his actions paint India in a negative light, and society in Southeast Asia wants to forget the issue of child slavery and inequality. Because of his actions, kids are given the same opportunity they would get if they weren't born into a family of a lower social rank. He gladly risks his life for a cause that neither gives him money nor fame. All he cares about is how his idea of equality spreads throughout the world so that the generations after him will realize the mistakes of the past. Kailash is never afraid to go against societal norms to spread his message:

During this period, Satyarthi idealistically had a group of untouchables--those from the lowest social caste in India--prepare a meal, and he invited some important local people from the highest caste to share it. The invitees refused to come and shunned Satyarthi's family afterward. After the incident, he dropped the name of his birth family and took the name Satyarthi. The word means ‘seeker of truth’. (“Kailash Satyarthi”)

These so-called ‘untouchables’ are treated like animals and are considered to have a lesser value in life. Kailash wanted to show his peers that everybody should receive recognition of being human. Because of him, many people in India think that the idea of entire communities being chucked away like trash is plain wrong. His actions reflect on his ability to recognize others for their personality, not what society paints them to be. As a pioneer of a new age, Kailash is uniting the world one kind act at a time.

      Kailash has worked tirelessly against obstacles, mistakes, and failures in his line of work to show people just how determined he is to save children around the world. Improving the lives of others is Kailash’s number one concern:

From the start – when I used to write and print thousands of leaflets to be distributed in the market for our first campaign – I have believed that education and liberation are two sides of the same coin. When I first tried to bring the issue of child labour into the public domain, there was nothing being done about it. India did not have a law against child labour till 1986. I fought for six years for this law and it is still not perfect, so the fight goes on. (Sousa)

With all the odds stacked against him, most people would back down and try to relax with whatever they have. He could easily have settled down in a quaint place somewhere in the corner of India. However, Kailash never stepped down from his attack on government until they added laws that would benefit juveniles. His accomplishments reflect on how he perceives the events around him. The world is clear to his eyes: a corrupt place where the rich get richer and the poor are left to be forgotten. He wants to rid the world of this corruption in whatever way he can. A man of good will isn’t forged in perfection, he always has to live with mistakes:  

On June 15, 2004, Satyarthi, along with colleagues and parents of bonded children, attempted to raid the Great Roman Circus, which was performing in Colonelganj, Uttar Pradesh. They were searching for 11 Nepalese girls who had been kidnapped and forced into labor. When they arrived it became apparent that the local magistrates, whose help Satyarthi thought he had enlisted, had alerted the owners. While Satyarthi and his colleagues found two of the girls, the owners thwarted further progress, one pulling a pistol on Satyarthi. The gunman lowered the weapon when he realized that he was being photographed, but nonetheless ordered attacks on Satyarthi and his colleagues. (O’Meara)

With a crushing defeat in his hands, Kailash must have had a multitude of feelings. Hatred, anger, and frustration are not uncommon feelings when at the foot of a failure. In these moments, you feel as if you want to give up on your aspirations. This moment in time was important for Kailash; it illustrated how he couldn't control everything that happened. However, he knew that if he got enough people to harmonize with his ideas, they would spread the cause like a wildfire. Instead of giving up, he continued on his crusade to end the suffering of children. His big picture is of a world where people can stand shoulder to shoulder and recognize each other as human beings and not things to be feared. He strives to create a world in which all people are accepted without prejudice.

      Despite being denounced by his own nation, Kailash Satyarthi continues his fight to see a world where people can do good for others, and he will never let his iron will be squandered as he works harder and harder to advance his cause. Ideas are spread to others quite easily in today’s world. Kailash doesn't spread his ideas by berating or slandering others. He knew he was destined to be an activist and has treated his occupation with well-earned respect. His fight against child suffering has been spread to every corner of the globe. He has gone out of his way to change the mindset of people who set aside a serious problem in his country. Kailash once stated in a speech,

Is it not a shame for all of us who believe in human rights and democracy, who value freedom and liberty, that over 200 million children in the world are languishing in modern slavery today? Is it not a shame for all of us when we read and listen to the spine-chilling incidents of killing of kids used as camel jockeys in the Gulf countries, or the girls made slaves for sexual purposes in Thailand and Philippines, or the children made bonded labor in South Asia, Latin America, and the African countries? (“Satyarthi, Kailash”)

He paved the way for people to tell things as they are. He doesn’t sugar coat any situation; he knows his actions are not enough to support his fight. The largest accomplishment of his work is getting communities from all walks of life to carry on his ideas. In the name of his cause, people have risen up out of their shells and shown to others their real thoughts and opinions. Today, crowds march on streets and knock on the doors of government to spread what Kailash started. My family lived comfortably in the suburbs of a massive Indian city. However, I remember observing those who weren’t as fortunate and asking my parents why they had to live in such an unsettling situation. It is commonplace for children in India to eventually ask that same question. Thanks to a curious little boy who went against the status quo, parents will finally be answering to their kids, after all these years of silence.

Works Cited

"Kailash Satyarthi." Newsmakers, vol. 1, Gale, 2015. Student Resources In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1618006244/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xid=ec1687b4. Accessed 7 Dec. 2018.

O'Meara, Donna. "Child labor." Faces: People, Places, and Cultures, Apr. 2006, p. 6+.Student Resources In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A147745972/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xid=f9a8665b. Accessed 10 Dec. 2018.

“Satyarthi, Kailash.” Salem Press Online Biographies, Jan. 2015, p. 1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=b6h&AN=127569659&site=brc-live.

Sousa, Mary de. “Kailash Satyarthi: Fighting for Children’s Rights, One Step at a Time.” Courier, UNESCO, Mar. 2018, https://en.unesco.org/courier/january-march-2018/kailash-satyarthi-fighting-children-s-rights-one-step-time. Accessed 10 Dec. 2018.