Indian/Pakistani Street Beggars.

What Are They?

These people are known as “the bad street children” in Pakistan, India and also other parts of South Asia. They have been living on roadsides for many years now, and this has become a significant issue for the government and police authorities across the globe. In places like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bangalore, these child beggars often come to beg from their parents or relatives. The most common ones include street children aged between 4 and 10 years, but some of these children have been reported to be older than that. These child beggars have been identified by their appearance, usually wearing tattered clothes with black patches and eyes which were broken or badly damaged. Most of them appear weak and vulnerable before they open their eyes which shows there is no sign of money at all and the majority of them don't have any ID documents along with it, apart from the usual begging kit that came with them to go on a day's journey, money will never help you here. This makes them look desperate at first. While they go to bed at night without any food or money in hand, the family members of the child beggar ask him to feed himself, so he can stay awake till dawn so as not to fall asleep and then when he returns home as well, he may be forced to do the same thing again in the evening and again every day until he learns how hard-working his family is. If after having a meal, the baby child cannot remain awake long enough, they are either sent back outside or taken to the graveyard where he is killed and buried alive. Since most of these street children are young girls who live with mothers that belong to the streets, these women often hit their children just to keep them under control. Some stories go further that one of the mother wanted to marry off her daughter to another man, so she took the child to the street in order to kill her. However, she was scared and terrified by what she saw and didn't want to face the consequences that lay ahead of her if she got herself pregnant during such an incident. Many of these girl children are forcibly married off by their families. It is very alarming to see that they are so poor that they are unable to support themselves any longer.

These street children also get into trouble sometimes because they are found in possession of a gun in public places which includes bus stations, market areas and markets of cities and towns. Unfortunately, these children don't know much about guns. So, if they hear a gunshot and the bullet hit the target, they are unaware of what hit them. Sometimes, they are seen carrying firearms on their shoulders and arms in order to shoot someone in order to prove themselves the real heroes in their community. We have witnessed cases of street boys trying to force a woman and when this happens the family forcefully takes away her arm. Due to such incidents, these kids often end up dead and injured too. People are often blamed for being a threat to society, such things may happen in every country, but sadly it occurs everywhere. The police usually act on certain circumstances that make it even harder to deal with such issues. There are many cases of robbery, carjacking, kidnapping and several others that make it a great difficulty to make anything meaningful out of it. Also, it causes serious conflicts due to the fact that the government gets involved with the situation as well.

What Causes Them To Do This?

While poverty plays a role in what the children do, the environment can play a key role in making the child beggar's life unbearable. As mentioned earlier, most of these street children are given a ration of something that they know they cannot afford. Once these children get hungry, and they have no one to take care of their needs, it is extremely difficult to give them proper food for breakfast and lunch throughout the day. The harsh weather condition and the crowded surroundings of a whole human community can be a cause that makes these children lose hope in a short period of time and even lose their sense of self-worth. When such children can’t find anyone to take care of them, they try to steal something that they will find in the neighborhood. If we talk about children in school, we also have seen a lot of these street kids who try to steal items such as books, pencils etc. when they are allowed to do so by the teacher. Children who are not well-dressed are mostly attacked by dogs and birds, but due to the nature of their clothes, it's easier to identify these kinds of children as those who do begging for money. Due to this, the school tries its best to teach these children better values that can help them learn to develop a strong personality and a balanced life. They often face bullying and discrimination in schools and colleges as well. All these reasons make them hopeless and feel like a failure.

What Can You Do Now?

The government of India and various countries of the world should immediately stop abusing street children and do everything possible to create awareness about the importance of education, health, love, self-respect and respect. The Pakistani and Indian governments both should send notices to these children telling them exactly how important of a person they are and what kind of person they are. Even though our society is aware of it, little has been done so far. Parents and the community as well need to realize what is happening and be prepared for such situations. Such an incident should always be reported at least by the victim’s father, who will also suffer as this is a loss to his loved ones. Both sides should take steps to fight against these problems so that they can get rid of these kinds of children once and for all.