Street children ask "Are we the future choppers Mr DSP?"

New Delhi, August 2: A federation of street and working children "Badthe Kadam", on Thursday wrote to the newly-appointed Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi asking him to ensure child-friendly faces among police ranks and adequate sensitisation of the force on child rights issues, standing up for the rights and safety of street children after the controversial ad.

"In the past few days, several cases of police atrocities on street children have surfaced in Delhi. The case of a street child beaten by a Railways Protection Force officer on July 16 and two children beaten at Sarojini Nagar on July 9 are few examples of how police in the Capital are treating the already victimised children," said Sanjay Gupta of CHETNA, a non-government organisation working with street children.

Badthe Kadam national secretary Vijay Kumar said there should be adequate training for police officials on how to be child-friendly.

The Delhi Police has sparked a controversy after an advertisement, which was meant to be a message to keep street children away from criminal activists was slammed all over. They have withdrawn the newspaper advertisement on street children and also apologised for the same, following a notice issued by a child rights panel.

"Considering the dignity of street children, we have withdrawn the advertisement. Our aim was not to hurt the emotions of anyone. If anyone thinks so, we apologise for that," Delhi police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat told IANS.

He added that the advertisement was withdrawn soon after the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) raised a question about it.

The advertisement in an English daily Tuesday read, "Help him learn to chop an onion. Before someone teaches him how to chop a head."

"We are also disappointed to see the recent derogatory advertisement by the police, where they seem to be promoting child labour or posing them as future head choppers. Thankfully, that advertisement has been withdrawn now," Kumar said.
The commission sent a notice to Delhi Police for portraying street children in a insensitive, derogatory manner.

With Agency inputs.

OneIndia News