Bhopal, June 10 :
Bhopal, June 10:
The Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission might face the wrath of several NGOs for having 'violated the fundamental human rights' of three backward tribes.
NGOs in Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ratlam, Bhind, Morena, Gwalior and other northern districts of the state are planning to launch
an agitation with the affected tribes from next week against a
report published by the state human rights commission, Caste-Based Prostitution in Madhya Pradesh.
The report financed by Unicef was released on International Women's Day, 2000. The study identified the womenfolk of three tribes - the Bachharas, Bedias and Sansias - as traditional
sex workers of a 'socially sanctioned system wherein a minor girl born in a particular caste is forced by her own parents and
relatives into prostitution and
enjoys to live with it throughout her life'. The cover page of the
report has the picture of a
tribal prostitute.
A Kerala-based NGO, Joint Action Council, Kannur, first came across this report in Delhi. Shocked that such a report circulated by a state human rights commission was labelling women of entire castes as 'prostitutes' and their men as 'pimps' and describing in derogatory terms entire communities as 'enjoying' and 'thriving' on prostitution, the NGO immediately got in touch with its counterparts in Madhya Pradesh.
The tribes had also been named 'criminal tribes' by the British. 'How is Independent India different from British India?' Mulloli asked. 'All three are backward tribes and instead of giving them a helping hand we have a respected state organisation pin-pointing them as
prostitutes.'
The study describes Bachharas as a 'social system supported by a social matrix of complex
social forces where parents
and brothers initiate their
daughters and sisters into the flesh trade, procure customers
for them and thrive on their
earnings'.
On Sansias, the study observes: 'Twenty-nine Sansia girls engaged in prostitution were recovered from Mumbai, Calcutta, Agra and Guna and rehabilitated locally. Seven such girls were married in a government-sponsored ceremony on August 11, 1985. It is said that even this failed to stop prostitution and 21 recovered girls returned to the flesh trade in Mumbai.'
Throughout the 70-page report, the tribal women have been looked down upon as though they were social outcasts. There are sections which read:
'What should a liberated prostitute do? The state seems to think that marriage is the solution to all their problems. But who will marry a prostitute?'
'A prostitute is a prostitute, whether with a birth mark or
otherwise.'
Even children were not spared by the report which said: 'A child prostitute would need behavioural correction before rehabilitation and unless it is done, future rehabilitation planning may not succeed.'
'The language is offensive,' the NGO heads alleged. Brinda Karat, general secretary, All India Democratic Women's Association, wrote to Unicef. On May 2, the Unicef replied, washing its hands of the report.