Citizens must unite to fight human trafficking

This refers to the article, “The battle against human trafficking” (March 5) by Amod K Kanth. India needs an effective and stringent anti-trafficking law and its sincere implementation regarding prevention, rescue and rehabilitation vis-à-vis human trafficking, including child trafficking and forced labour. This must be done by a joint action team comprising of police, labour department, child helplines and NGOs. Human trafficking causes slavery and slavery kills democracy. On being asked about the definition of democracy, Abraham Lincoln had said, “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.”

It is an irony that India being the largest democracy of the world has the highest number of slaves. According to Global Slavery Index 2016, India has the highest absolute numbers of people trapped in slavery with 18.35 million slaves.  To combat the menace, it is also necessary to make ourselves aware of the problem of trafficking and about what role we can play to weed it out. There should be prominent notices in all railway stations, bus terminals and road crossings requesting people to inform the police about any suspected human trafficking or forced labour. The Government must stop the juggernaut of human trafficking and slavery before it tramples on the democratic flowers of equality, liberty, fraternity and justice.