The controversy over the recent trafficking of hundreds of children from Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal to orphanages run by Muslim outfits in Kerala rocked the State Assembly on Monday, the very first day of the session, with the Opposition staging a walkout even as Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said there could have been a conspiracy behind the incident.
Members of the Opposition lDF walked out of the House in protest against the Speaker’s decision to disallow an adjournment motion which demanded urgent discussion on the illegal activities taking place in certain Yateemkhanas (orphanages) run by Muslim outfits in the State. The issue has been rocking Kerala and the other concerned states for the past several days.
The issue pertains to the trafficking of children of four-to-14 age group from Jharkhand, Bihar and Bengal to orphanages run by Muslim outfits in Kozhikode and Malappuram. As many as 589 such children were detained at Palakkad railway station on My 24 as they were being brought to Kerala without proper documents. Ten people were arrested in connection with the incident.
Moving the notice for the adjournment motion in the Assembly, Deputy Opposition leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan of the CPI(M) alleged that certain Muslim orphanages had been bringing children from North Indian states without proper document and with forged papers and agents had been engaged for this.
“These orphanages have been trafficking children into Kerala by giving temptations to parents that they could be made doctors and engineers. Even when there were allegations that atrocities were being committed towards these children in the orphanages, there had been no probe. Illegal activities are being carried out in some of these Yateemkhanas,” Kodiyeri said.
He said that the Congress-led UDF Government had no clear answer to the question whether the recent incident was a case of human trafficking. While the Home Department saw this as a case of human trafficking, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the Social Welfare Department were denying this, he pointed out.
Replying to the notice for the adjournment motion, Social Welfare Minister MK Muneer of the Muslim league, which has been supportive of the orphanages over the issue, stated that there was no element of human trafficking in the matter but admitted that there were certain legal lapses in the way some orphanages were being run.
Intervening in the debate, Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan alleged that illegal activities were indeed happening in the name of orphanages. He accused Chief Minister Chandy of trying to defend the erring orphanages while the Home Department had taken a tough stand. However, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said he had never termed the incident as human trafficking.
In his speech, the Chief Minister admitted that there had been certain legal and procedural failures on the part of the orphanages while bringing the children from other states but it was not a case of human trafficking. Following Chandy’s explanation, the Speaker denied permission for the motion. Protesting Opposition walked out of the House.
Meanwhile, reports from Ranchi quoted Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren as saying that the incident looked like a case of human trafficking prima facie and that there was a conspiracy behind it. He said his Government would welcome any kind of serious probe, including a CBI inquiry, into the incident. Jharkhand would cooperate with investigations in Kerala, he said.