Noble Prize 2014: This honour is for the children, says Kailash Satyarthi

NEW DELHI: Decades ago, when Kailash Satyarthi was just five years old, he noticed another kid of his age working outside his school. It intrigued him that the child was always working outside, never stepping into the school like five-year-olds should.

“I asked my teachers why it is so. They brushed the issue aside saying they are just labourers. One day I went to his father and asked him why he doesn’t send his boy to school.

He told me that they are born to work. That answer changed everything,” says India’s newest Nobel laureate. Photos of children rescued from bonded labour by his Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) adorn the walls of the modest three-storeyed office, especially the ones capturing the moment when they are reunited with their family.

“This honour is for those millions of children who are still languishing in slavery,” Satyarthi told ET.

‘ Child Labour Causes Poverty

“They are deprived of their childhood and their fundamental right to freedom. These children are in stone quarries, mines, brick kilns and remain invisible and unnoticed. While I speak to you and get photographed by you, I can only think of these children.

Having said that, I want to point out that while India is ridden with problems, this same country has offered many solutions to the world. I am proud be born in the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Buddha,” Satyarthi told ET.

“I am proud to be from Vidisha. King Ashoka’s in laws were from Vidisha. His children Mahendra and Sanghmitra were India’s first messengers of peace. I have always been inspired by them,” he said.

“It's a myth that poverty causes and perpetuates child labour. In fact it's proven that child labour causes poverty. We cannot hide behind the argument that poverty is the main cause behind child labour,” Satyarti said. “We speak of globalising economy, but I call upon everyone to globalise compassion for children,” he said.