India is now the world’s slave capital

[Lord Nemesis]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...l-Slavery-Index-2014/articleshow/45178623.cms

http://www.globalslaveryindex.org/findings/

India is in numero uno position across the world in slavery with total enslaved population of close to 15 Million out of total 35 Millon across the world (1st in total enslaved population and 5th in terms of %age enslaved population)

I am sure that there are at least a few people out there in our country who will feel proud that we are in number one position in something at least. Lets pat ourselves on the back for this achievement.

And to think people in our country have the nerve to call out the Gulf and Africa about Slavery.

 

[asingh]

Really really bad + sad.

 

[letmein]

It's part of our heritage and culture. Don't try to change it.

/sarcasm

 

[ayanavish]

We will be numero uno in terms of population too

 

[pauldmps]

Not to discredit the ranking or anything but what exactly "slavery" means in the current context? I mean, I haven't seen anyone bound and being forced to work, etc.

 

[eternoMind]

Not to discredit the ranking or anything but what exactly "slavery" means in the current context? I mean, I haven't seen anyone bound and being forced to work, etc.

A majority of prostitutes, trafficked women and children, homeless beggers, child beggers with disabilities, bonded labourers , people being forced to perform back breaking tasks and often in inhuman conditions for a pittance...

Look around man, you won't need too much time to run into a enslaved person.

Sickening!

 

[Lord Nemesis]

^^ You are wrong. Caste system may be one of many reasons and may be the root cause behind certain aspects of slavery, but slavery in India does not start and end with caste system. Discrimination and violation of human rights does not automatically make it slavery.

http://www.antislavery.org/english/slavery_today/what_is_modern_slavery.aspx

Someone is in slavery if they are:

• forced to work - through mental or physical threat;
• owned or controlled by an 'employer', usually through mental or physical abuse or the threat of abuse;
• dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as 'property';
• physically constrained or has restrictions placed on his/her freedom of movement

What forms of slavery exist today?

• Bonded labour
• Child slavery
• Early and forced marriage
• Forced labour
• Descent-based slavery
• Trafficking

Every one of the above categories apply and exist in India.

 

[Fenix]

Check the Times of India and its sad to read it.

 

[Lord Nemesis]

My earlier post was an attempt to draw attention to the root cause for modern-day slavery to prevail in India.

However, why do you suppose slavery encompasses the lower classes/sections of Indian society? This section of society forms the backbone of the Indian economy. Why do you think we don't give a damn about the concept of a minimum wage? This fact alone equates slavery in India to discrimination.

That is why I am saying that your statement is inaccurate, you are assuming that slavery in India encompasses the economically or socially backward classes and that the root cause of the problem is discrimination.
That is not really the case and the reality of the situation is much more dark and scary. Let me give a few examples of slavery prevalent in India.

Children in various parts of the country regardless of background are regularly kidnapped to be forced into working as laborers, servants, beggers, pick pockets and thieves, drug peddlers. For begging they are often blinded or mutilated to make them pitiable. Everything these children get is taken away by their handlers. They barely get enough food to keep them alive.

Girls/Women of regardless of background are kidnapped to be sold as brides in certain parts of the country that fall into Rajasthan, UP, Bihar etc. where the male to female ratio is skewed. Though they call it marriage, they buy women as if they are commodities and they are used as you would any household item. They are made to work and used for sex by every male in the family. When they get tired of her or she is broken beyond use (physically or mentally), she is discarded and another girl is bought.

Of course, prostitution business is a major source and destination of slavery. Many women in this business are not only forced by their economic or social conditions, but other means as well.

Slaves of yester years from places like Africa were made though sheer brute strength and domination. Its not much different in India now. Social or economic standing and inherent discrimination may be a reason in some cases, but there are many cases where people are enslaved though sheer brute strength.

 

[Onemufc]

Did they include IT professionals in this also?

 

[eternoMind]

Aren't those kind slaves by choice/habit

 

[sharktale1212]

To an extent but then there are cases of companies making people sign "bonds" which are illegal under the labor law (though companies are much smarter and treat them as fair contracts between employee and employer). Freshers desperately looking for a job take these up.

 

[chiron]

So, which country is the world's master capital?

 

[Lord Nemesis]

Hmmm...source? I know, i know; my claims are just as dubious!

Only relevant statistics can settle our argument. And i doubt if those statistics would be direct. We'd have to careful when analyzing and interpreting the statistics.

You can just google to get references. Child/Bride trafficking is very commonplace in India.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/when-women-come-cheaper-than-cattle/article1-1199052.aspx

While in some cases, they just buy out the victim from their parents/relatives/guardians/orphanages, it has also become quite common to kidnap and it is much more profitable for them when they can do it without much retaliation. There are several cases of girls/children from well to do families who went missing who were apparently kidnapped and ended up being sold as brides, prostitutes, laborers, beggars etc. It doesn't really matter for the people dealing in these things because of our lousy law enforcement systems which rarely act (and/or in time).

Some of the Kidnapping related trafficking crimes has also been aired in the crime related shows on TV.

Kidnapping girls from well to do families even makes sense for them because such girls tend to be better looking than the normal fare and hence justify more value. I have even read about cases where girls were kidnapped on demand to be sold as brides or prostitutes.

Kidnapping children for labour, begging, pick pocketing rackets is also very commonplace. These rackets just get hold of anybody they can easily lay their hands on without caring about their backgrounds.

 

[blr_p]

Not to discredit the ranking or anything but what exactly "slavery" means in the current context? I mean, I haven't seen anyone bound and being forced to work, etc.

It means people who get into debt and end up working for the creditor. This has been the case throughout history in this part and other areas of the world. Not everyone who gets into debt commits suicide. The usual way of dealing with this situation was kings or govts announced amnesties to forgive loans.

How does the west deal with it ? its called social security. add 20% more tax than you pay currently and you get the idea. Currently less than 8% of people fall under the tax net so we're not going to be introducing social security any time soon. Other schemes have been launched. MREGA is one.

With a country of 300 million under the poverty line the figures do not surprise me. Govt policies that is so long as the govt needs votes cannot escape this fact and it reflects in their politics regardless of who comes to power. Its something we will work on as we develop the country.

Its not something i feel ashamed about because i did not cause this problem

My earlier post was an attempt to draw attention to the root cause for modern-day slavery to prevail in India.

Debt

 

[TEUser2K1]

Poverty leads to lots of miseries.
If you name all those miseries as slavery, then India, home to billions and majority of poor, can be slave capital.
Otherwise, this is just another news article and ill-represented statistics.

 

[Lord Nemesis]

^^ Please don't try to over simplify and downplay such problems and the suffering of victims by blaming it on poverty. Poverty exists in every country and not every country has slavery in the same ratio as the poverty.
How do you explain away people who kidnap women to sell them into prostitution or as brides (read sex slaves) in India. How do you explain all the begging or other rackets with children who in many cases are from fairly well do middle class families who just happened to be kidnapped from various parts of the country and forced into these things. Do you seriously think that the people who run these kind of operations care where they are getting their victims from as long as they can get away with it. Neither the people who run these operations nor their victims are in it because of poverty.

This problem exists because of excessive greed and corruption due to power, lack of fear and blatant disregard for the law due to poor state of law enforcement and even poorer state of our laws and also because of the so called great Indian culture and heritage which apparently excuses our countrymen from having any semblance of good ethical and moral conduct.

The poverty of money is not the reason for a life being so cheap in India, its the poverty of ethics/morals, respect towards self and others and compassion towards fellow beings that leads this sort of behavior.

 

[hotshot05]

@sid_donnydarko In villages, people can take loans from the money lenders.
Most people even do not have a bank account. You can't expect them to apply for a loan. Even if they had a bank account, they would not be eligible for a loan. So they take money from moneylenders. I believe most farmers get money for their seeds this way.

 

[rdst_1]

@sid_donnydarko In villages, people can take loans from the money lenders.
Most people even do not have a bank account. You can't expect them to apply for a loan. Even if they had a bank account, they would not be eligible for a loan. So they take money from moneylenders. I believe most farmers get money for their seeds this way.

Absolutely true. My mamaji is a full time farmer and even though he has a car, AC etc. he is always paying some debt. You can say he leads a comfortable life but isn't financially secure. His situation isn't much different from how most Americans live their lives. The huge difference however is that Americans have access to low interest loans whereas he has to pay exorbitant rates to moneylenders or even the banks. So I hope you can understand what the situation can be for for the daily wage earners Sid.

 

[blr_p]

Debt? Seriously?

Since when was everyone in India eligible to apply for any sort of loan in order to land themselves in debt in the first place?

That may be the case in a first world nation but not ours. At least not yet.

Its been the case since money was invented. People lost their lands because they could not pay back, then they ended up working for their creditors and at times their wives and daughters ended up as some one else's property. Now and then amnesties were announced to keep the peace. Amnesties announced when most of the debt has been paid back and to keep slavery down.

Generally speaking.

Presently, the primary tool for exploitation and discrimination in India is caste. Eliminate caste mentality and the situation will improve. But after a while we will start using illiteracy and ignorance to exploit and discriminate; just like in 1st world nations.

Same story different context.

There will always be a weaker section in society; those who cannot fend for themselves. Its what a society/nation/government does to support them, in the form of benefits and programmes, that raises them above the status of slaves. Even then there is a strong possibility that such a system will never be fully successful. Why? Because its up to the weaker section to properly utilize these benefits without misusing them - exactly what is happening in MREGA. You can't force it down their throats.

These will continue.

'fully successful' is ambitious. I'd settle for more effective or more successful than previous.

When these benefits and programmes do not exist, then the weakest section are the equivalent of slaves regardless of whether they're actually being forced into bondage.

Servitude is a scary reality in India. But do you want to know what is even more scary? The fact that we submit and encourage this attitude instead of fighting it.

In some ways i think the downtrodden are better at fighting and surviving than we are. They adapt faster.