Karnataka - Belgaum   

This 11-year-old is clueless about his rights

Staff Correspondent

At an age when he should be going to school, Shanur is striving hard to earn a living

Hard days: Shanur sells peanuts at the Belgaum city bus stand, along with his father.

Belgaum: Amid loud noise of buses, eleven-year-old Shanur tries to attract passers by to “time pass phalli-batana...” at the city bus stand here.

The picture of the boy selling fried groundnuts and peas stands in sharp contrast to “sare jahan se achcha, Hindustaan hamara; Hum bulbule hain iski, Yeh gulistaan haramara from a radio — a glimpse of the social status of the boy in sharp contrast to the content of the song.

At a time when he is supposed to be going to school, Shanur accompanies his father, 55-year-old Noor Mohammed, to the bus tand to sell groundnuts.

Both of them venture out in the morning and try to sell as much as possible till late evening.

The plight of Shanur’s two elder brothers, who work in a bakery unit, is no better.

Shanur shies away from answering the question why he was not going to school.

He speaks of his younger brother who is studying in second standard in an Urdu-medium primary school.

Shanur is just one among the thousands of children across the world engaged in some or the other labour.

The city also observed “World Day Against Child Labour” on June 12.

But, neither Shanur nor his father do not know what it is all about.

Awareness programmes against child labour are yet to reach hundreds of Shanurs who are toiling day and night to earn a living.

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