Protests, rallies and chakka jam - children forced to participate

BIRGUNJ, June 6: Political parties have increasingly used children for their protest programs and rallies. If the use of children was limited to inflating the numbers in mass gatherings in the past, the parties and other agitating groups have now been using children even to enforce bandas and chakka jams. [break]



Many school students were used by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in its sit-in in front of the District Administration Office, Parsa on Wednesday while the students were lured into the program in Chitwan with assurance of snacks. Students were similarly found to have been used in several neighboring districts.



Such exploitation of children is not confined to the Maoists alone and other big political parties are also following suit. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), CPN-UML, also used students to welcome president Jhala Nath Khanal on his May 4 visit of Nijgadh getting Nijgadh Resources Centre to close 12 schools.



The students were forced to wait for hours in the blazing sun with flowers in hand to welcome Khanal having left home in the morning to study. “This act of using students by getting schools closed made a mockery of children´s rights,” fumes Bara´s rights activist Bidur Khadka.







Khadka says the use of children in such political programs and street protests has become a fashion in the recent past. “They are used to enforce bandas by handing them sticks thereby putting both the common people and the children themselves at a great risk,” Khadka adds.



During the recent Tharu protests, tension flared up in Chhatapipra, Bara when a child hit a cyclist on his head for violation of the banda. The man got off his cycle, snatched the child´s stick and threatened to hit back igniting tension. “The tempers cooled down only when the protestors realized their mistake in time,” Khadka recalls.







The Madhesi parties have also been using children in their political programs. The stick-wielding children are used, from burning tires to deflating wheels of vehicles by the parties. A child had even hit a journalist´s motorcycle saying he had no regards for press even during the Madhes movement in the past.



Since every party uses children during their programs and therefore no one is taking any initiative to stop the trend. “This trend has vitiated the environment in schools and resulted in political clashes among the school students,” rues President of Bara-based Mechi Kali Media Society, Bhojraj Bhattarai.

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