Little hands with dirty buckets, wipers

[Naveed Yaseen]

As soon as the car stops at a traffic signal, these boys and girls appear from nowhere and just seem to attack your car’s windscreen with a dirty wiper or a piece of cloth, without seeking permission from the person behind the wheel.

Seeming to be in a hurry not to miss the chance of earning a few rupees, they totally ignore the angry gestures of the drivers. Motorists often avoid having their windscreens cleaned, fearing that the worn out wipers might leave scratches on them.

However, the anger and the ‘go away’ gestures are all a routine matter for these kids, who are usually of school-going age. The grassy medians are their home from where they run their business while also having a good time with their friends. When they are tired, they rest under the shade of a nearby tree, and upon spotting a traffic police officer, they disappear in a flash only to come back later.

Such kids also operate in busy parking areas. Equipped with the basic tools for washing cars, they often plead the drivers to hire their services and at times are not even paid for their job. They do not beg, but many educated people believe that this is the worst form of begging. Not many motorists have a soft corner for them.

In a bid to listen to their side of the story, ‘The News’ interviewed two such boys — Armaghan, 12, and Zarjan, 11 — outside the shrine of Barri Imam. Both have been washing cars and windscreens in front of the shrine for the past one year. Their father, a drug addict, migrated from Afghanistan but three years ago, left his wife with their seven children to care for. Since then, the family has no idea of his whereabouts. The family stayed at Edhi Homes for two years, but since the boys crossed the age of 10, they had to be separated from their mother under the Edhi Home rules. However, the mother decided that they all move out of the facility, so they rented a room for Rs2,000 in Nurpur Shahan.

Being the eldest in the house, the weak shoulders of Armaghan and Zarjan had to bear the responsibility to earn for the whole family. “My sisters go to the ‘langar’ to get food that is barely enough for all of us, whereas what we earn is spent on paying the rent,” said Armaghan. Since they had no skills, the only idea that came to their mind was to wash cars. “Together, we hardly earn Rs100-150 per day,” he said. Both had difficulty in speaking and their hands were full of marks.

Zarjan said they insist on washing the cars because for them, it is the only way to earn. “Our mother waits for us in the evening in the hope that we will bring along some money,” he said adding that though they want to, they could not even think about going to school. Adding to their problems are the policemen, who beat them up for washing cars. “They take our buckets and dusters, and thrash us hard at times,” alleged Armaghan showing the marks on his body, which he claimed were the result of the beating.

However, an official at the Secretariat Police Station told ‘The News’ that the police are not allowed to beat children. “They are just asked to stop them from making a mess close to the shrine, as it creates problems for the visitors,” he said.

It is a sad fact that despite the presence of set rules forbidding police officials from using torture, such cases of beating innocent people are part of their routine life.

In addition to these rules, Pakistan is also a signatory of the convention against systematic torture, forbidding any state actor to cause severe pain or suffering — physical or mental — to a person, but unfortunately, there are yet no signs of its implementation in practice.

Pakistan signed the ‘Convention against Torture & other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment’ in April 2008, but like many other international treaties signed by the government, nothing has been done to ensure its implementation in letter and spirit. The convention defines torture as any act by which severe pain or suffering — whether physical or mental — is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes, as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed. But no national or international law is applied on helpless boys like Armaghan and Zarjan. For public, they are nothing more than an irritant. No one tries to probe the story behind this irritating behaviour. No one realises the fact that despite the tough expressions on their faces, they are still children, who need love and care.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=177713