Beggars Mafia: Preying on the Poor - Assignment Example

Beggar’s Mafia: Preying on the Poor Introduction The origins of begging began through the need of those without asking those with a surplus to share in their wealth. Begging at the gates of the palace was allowed so that the royalty could express their charity in front of the people. Social philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) stated that “Charity gives every man a title to so much of another’s plenty as will keep him from extreme want, where there is no means to subsist otherwise” - God had given the needy the right to share of the surplus from capitalist production, “so that it cannot be justly denied him, when his pressing need calls for it” (Dean 45). However, their has developed a business of begging that has spawned a series of crimes that defy the belief of the Western world. Children are being mutilated and maimed in order to be used by gang leaders for proceeds from begging through a form of organized crime referred to as a beggar mafia. In this research project I plan to show how there is a lack of awareness from which global social pressure could evolve in order to force countries in which there exists these organizations so that strict law enforcement actions can be put into place to stop the beggar mafias from operating. The Problem One of the horrors of life that face many parents in third world countries is the abduction of their children in order to force them into a profession of begging, centralized by leaders who expect them to bring home a certain amount of money per day. In India, one of the countries where this practice is predominant, there are more than 44,000 children who disappear each year, most of which are trafficked into illegal professions such as prostitution. A good portion of them are used within syndicated systems of beggars, maimed and mutilated to make them seem more sympathetic, and then their earnings taken from them in order to support the leaders of this heinous activity. The beggar mafia can exist because local law enforcement and politicians are benefiting from payoffs from the leaders of the gangs. Because of the different cultural concepts of individual value and law, third world countries are often susceptible to the existence of such organized crime within their cities. The prime targets of such trafficking and abuse are the poor as their poverty is easily manipulated through a lack of resources with which to combat the assault of circumstances that can be a part of the taking of their children, the use of their need, and the neglect of their overall well-being. In addition, there is the horror of doctors who are either coerced or corrupted to help the organizations by maiming and mutilating children in order to make them more sympathetic in their efforts to beg. In order to combat the horrors of this gang developed crime, world wide social pressure must come to bear within the countries where beggar mafia gangs operate. Social Support through Silence for Beggar Mafias The only way that such organizations could exist would be through the silence of law enforcement and politicians towards those who run such organizations. According to Hirani, the government of Pakistan is silent on the issue, leaving the gangs to run without regard to the terror and pain that is inflicted upon the children who are owned by these gangs. At best, local law enforcement is not paying attention to these activities, but at worst they are centrally involved. According to Desai, officials in Mumbai stated that that there were 2,307 children who went missing in 2006, but an official response was states as: “If you ask me honestly, missing children and kidnapped children are not really looked at seriously. There isn’t a pattern that has been observed here.” The commissioner of the Mumbai police, A. N. Roy stated that “Children go missing in every city and I am not concerned about the number of cases“ (Desai). This general lack of concern is based upon the lethargy of activism from the global community in pushing officials to stop the activity. A petition on iPetitions.com calls for social awareness and pressure to be brought against India who actively has open organized beggar mafias so the country will create active legislation and enforcement in stopping these horrors from occurring. The petition states that “The beggar mafia recruits abducted or trafficked children, chops off their limb(s) and force them to beg on the streets” (Abhivridh). In this succinct sentence is the overall description of the situation. However, the existence of beggar mafias has not been slowed to date. The horrors that happen in order to promote the interests of the leaders of these gangs are beyond comprehension. The value of the lives and futures of children is such that they are used for vessels of pity, their bodies all but destroyed in order to promote their commercial value as beggars. Cultural Philosophies of the Individual One of the problems that supports the development of such gangs is the way in which the value of the lives of children is perceived by some cultures. Within the framework of this discussion, it must be understood that parents do value the lives of their children, but the underlying cultural philosophy is different. People are economic commodities, their lives dedicated to the benefit and survival of their families. Children go to work if the family needs them to go, women are sold through dowries into marriages, and sons are expected to provide financial benefit to their parents as they age. In some ways, when handled from a sense of love, it is all done to the betterment of families. However, the commoditization of individuals leads those who are naturally corrupt to abuse the system and exploit the socioeconomic status of the poor in order to promote there interests. In rural India, the social philosophy can be described for requiring “a curtailment of individual development in order to maintain conformity and group cohesion”(Korbin 72). Historically, children were not seen as having attained a status where there were rights attached to their existence within society. In 17th century Europe child neglect and abuse was rampant with children having no rights from which to be relieved of whatever was done in their rearing. Killing of children and neglecting them was not uncommon and not considered of notable inquiry. However, the development of the industrial revolution led to the misuse of children as child labor. With the philosophies of the Enlightenment helping to form the context in which the theories of individuality would develop, the ideologies of the rights of children would develop (Korbin 73). This was not the case in third world countries where rural life remained predominant and industrialization has evolved much more slowly. The concept of individual development and value over the needs of the collective have not grown as it has in industrialized nations. Corruption One of the worst aspects of the beggar mafia is in the corruption of authority figures in participating in destroying the bodies of children so that they are of higher value on the street as a beggar. CNN-IBN news revealed a sting in New Delhi where doctors were offering to create damage to adult beggars at a price in order to up their value on the street when begging. One doctor was quoted as saying to a potential client “Believe me, if there are two beggars present in front of you and one is lame, you will give your money to the lame beggar.”(Reuters). According to Andrabi, children are abducted then harmed in order to raise their value. “Often to entice empathy among potential contributors, their limbs are amputated or they are disfigured with acid. Sometimes blood vessels are stitched to block blood supply to parts of the body bringing about gangrene” (Andrabi). Shelley states that it is often with the duplicity of the medical profession that children are maimed, sometimes healing under their care in a hospital, before going out without their limbs in order to work for the beggar mafia (64). According to Dalit, when asked where their limbs went, children often say that they just disappeared or that they do not know how they lost them. Vague references to accidents create a wall of silence that protects those who are involved. There is an estimated 300,000 children who are part of the begging ’industry’ in India with an estimated value of 20 million pounds (British currency estimate) earned for their gang leaders (Dalit). With this kind of money, it isn’t difficult to corrupt local officials to look the other way and allow for this kind of horror to continue. However, there is some effort being made to address the issue, although nothing to date has been accomplished. Stopping the Beggar Mafia Andrabi states that it is the collusion between politicians, physicians, and law enforcement that allows these types of syndicated organizations for begging to flourish. However, there is some motivating interests brought about by exposes outside of the country that have brought global pressure toward stopping the industry. Technically, the Bombay Beggary Prevention Act of 1959 makes begging illegal in India. This law, however, is rarely enforced. Some proposals suggest fining those who give money to beggars or fining the beggars themselves (Andrabi). Neither of these proposals suggest a viable and humane way of dealing with homeless children who are the victims of trafficking in which they have been harmed to make them more sympathetic. However, the problem is that the children who are used for the organizations are vulnerable to the abuse of law enforcement who may have a culture of torture and abuse within their system. Amnesty International has a list of children who were taken from their isolated impoverished state on the street and tortured with no reason for their abuse, nor any investigation given after the incident. They report on 14 year old Rajeesh who was taken into custody with no charges, subjected to pins being put through his fingernails, his head banged repeatedly against the wall, being forced to sit on an imaginary chair for long periods of time (a position that can cause damage to the legs), and having the soles of his feet beaten. He spent several weeks in a hospital when he was released and to date no reason or acknowledgement of his detention has been given (Amnesty International). Conclusion Global awareness and exposes like the one performed by CNN-IBN can help to bring the information into the critical eye of the public. However, without an understanding of the problem from the point of view of those in need, the problem will not be solved. As shown, law enforcement and legislative officials see the problem as something to be addressed through the activity of the begging, rather than finding ways to take the children from the street and providing suitable living circumstances for them. Because of the cultural differences in viewing the rights of children, it is possible that approaching the problem from a humane sense of the problem has not yet seemed feasible. It is the global community that must step in, through organizations like Amnesty International who must step in and address the issue in order to provide sufficient pressure for social change to occur. However, this particular issue did not seem to have been addressed yet through that particular organization. Awareness has yet to reach the level of social panic and outcry in order to create sufficient pressure on governments to stop this horrible set of practices that exploits and abuses children. Works Cited Abhivridh. ‘Beggar Mafia: Raise your Voices against it!”. iPetitions. 2010. Web. 15 December 2010. Amnesty International. “Children: Human Rights and the Juvenile Justice System. Amnesty International Canada. 2010. Web. 15 December 2010. Andrabi, Jalees. “Beggar Mafia Thrives on Lost Children”. The National. 18 January 2009. Web. 14 December 2010. Dalit. “Child Beggar Gangs”. Dalit Freedom Network (UK). 2010. Web. 14 December 2010. Dean, Hartley. Begging Questions: Street-level Economic Activity and Social Policy Failure. Bristol, UK: Policy Press, 1999. Print. Desai, Stavan. “Flesh Trade to Beggar Mafia: Mumbai Capital for Missing Children”. Indian Express. 6 February 2006. Web. 15 December 2010. Hirani, Saad. “The Beggar Mafia in Pakistan - An Unexplored Truth”. Chowrangi. 23 November 2010. Web. 14 December 2010. Korbin, Jill E. *child Abuse and Neglect: Cross-cultural Perspectives. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981. Print. Reuters. “Doctors offer to Maim Beggars in TV Sting”. Daily News and Analysis. 1 August 2006. Web. 13 December 2010. Shelley, Louise I. 2010. Human trafficking: a global perspective. Cambridge, [UK]: Cambridge University Press. Read More