Buying
children in Orissa : A valid way to focus on starvation deaths?
The Hoot Desk
Did the Hindustan Times¿ purchase of two children from
Bolangir benefit the children or the Hindustan Times, asks a critic. The
paper¿s correspondent says, sensationalising an issue is better than not
focussing on it at all.
The Hindustan Times bought two children in Bolangir, reported on September 23.
It did follow up stories till the following Sunday, and through this period invited
readers to support the children, and give their points of view, which it
carried. The children were brought to Delhi, they were given a home by SOS
Children¿s Villages, and there the matter rests. Thereafter the issue died
down, HT did not carry very much more on it, nor did the rest of the press pick
up this story. Unlike the Indian Express¿s purchase of Kamla, in the early
eighties, HT¿s purchase of children went off the pages of the press very
quickly.
The story however is not over. Reactions to the HT
scoop have come from Bolangir, an FIR has been lodged by Dambaru, the uncle of
the children and the man who allegedly sold them, against the reporter who
allegedly bought them, and a public interest litigation has been filed by
Sanjay Mishra of Vikalpa which draws attention to the sequence of events, the
plight of the children in an alien environment and the damage to the sentiments
of the people of Bolangir.
In response to the criticism one of the HT
correspondents who worked on the story wrote, "It is not a question of an
individual selling children, it¿s the way the state and the society have
completely forgotten that these people exist and they need to eat, sleep and
live. I don¿t mind people calling us unscrupulous if some attention is focused
on Bolangir. I tried to do that myself when I was posted there but failed. If
Mr Das has chosen to highlight a case to prove that the situation is really bad
in Bolangir, I would support him. regarding the allegation that it distorts
truth, I really don¿t think that is the case. One can probably say that we
tried to
sensationalise the issue. But I frankly believe that sensationalising an issue
is better than not talking about it at all."
What is the legal position regarding removing the
children and giving them to SOS villages in Delhi? In the case of another child
sale in Bolangir, the man who bought the child was arrested and put in jail.
We document all sides of the issue. First the story,
as it appeared, and excerpts from follow-up stories. Alongside we carry the
criticism levelled by a researcher and free lance writer from Bolangir. Whereas
the Hindustan Times has declined for over a week to reply to the points raised,
we did get one reaction from one of the reporters on the story, which we also
carry.
The story
Nation¿s shame: Starving Orissa family sells children
The Hindustan Times, September 23, 2001, Raipur
By Anand S T Das
Nothing in the world had prepared me for this. I had gone to Badagamada in Balangir as a curious journalist, but I came back as the owner of two children. Yes, reprehensible as the word