Zainab Khan: The Activist whose suffering trailed her success story
India is a country where a girl child was considered a liability and not a priced possession. This practice was mostly reigning in rural India where the fate of a woman was restricted to the four walls of a household and an inconsistent amount of labor. Child Labour is an issue that had always been debatable. The innocence and sprouting childhood of young kids have always been at stake. Although numerous policies have been crafted by the Government to eradicate child labor and to preserve the growing age of these kids, there is some portion of India, where child labor is still being carried out.
However, on our ongoing Navratri Series, today we have got the story of a young activist, whose journey has played an eccentric role in slowing down child labor and elevating children’s education.
Zainab Khan is a 23-year-old activist who has shaped the educational destiny of the village Chandora. Chandora is a small rural setup in the heart of Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. The small townlet of Chandora was not hosting any school dedicated to the proper education of a girl child. Like other girls in her village, Zainab was a child laborer. She was working in a factory where all the girls use to stitch footballs to earn money to keep up their families. She started working laboriously from the young age of 10. Other girls in her peer labored since the tender age of 5-6. However, the lads of the village were sent to schools to pursue a good education and prosper in life. It was a social stigma that girls are to be shunned to labor for it was all they were destined to do.
Nevertheless, the young spirited Zainab Khan always aimed at breaking the so-called social rite. She was never satisfied with the life, her society was weaving for the young innocent girls of her village.
But like every other classic story, she even experienced a turning point. It was in 2006 when the Bachpan Bachao Aandolan was launched by the Government to exterminate child labour from India. This renowned Child Right campaign trailed into the district of Meerut. And eventually it reached Chandora. As the movement ruled out, the establishment of a ‘Bal Panchayat’ was made obligatory. The Bal Panchayat was to be formed in every village to strengthen the children of the village to prevent themselves from unconsented exploitation and child labour.
The Panchayat had the provision of electing child representatives from among the children of the villages. And to Zainab’s fortune, she was elected as the Bal Pradhan of her village. And since then, she never looked back. That became a landmark junction for little Zainab. In an interview she says that ” Right from the start my objective was straightforward- Tell the children to stop stitching footballs and start attending school. Over the years I have kept up my engagement with the community, persuading parents to send children to school.”
Zainab became the first girl of her village to travel to the nearest city to complete her higher secondary school. The tiny village of Chandora lacked the basic infrastructure of a higher secondary school and that became the dream of Zainab. With a lot of persuasions, Zainab managed to meet the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and requested him to build up a higher secondary school in Chandora. Her prayers were heard! On the orders of Akhilesh Yadav, the DIOS established a Higher Secondary School at Chandora. Zainab also requested the Chief Minister to meet two girls from each district to learn about the problems they are facing and the ailment they need.
With the establishment of the school, Zainab not only accomplished her vision but also elevated the pursuits of thousands of children brooding at Chandora. Education is a fundamental right of every child and restraining that right evolves not only a legal violation but also the infringement of the basic human rights. She also laid out the foundation of a College in her village so that young lads and ladies wouldn’t have to go far of land to complete their education.
Her determination and perseverance may not have eradicated child labour but has worked efficiently in slowing down the practice. She became the ray of hope for numerous sprouting children of her village. This 23-year girl had renovated the fates of several children.
Zainab’s journey from being a Child labour to an activist dedicated to the cause of Children education is a mirror to the youths out there. She exhibits the power of our Youngsters. This Navratri, we applaud this young soul who turned out to be an inspiration for many.