The report that an NGO from Kashmir is involved in transferring some Covid orphans against some commercial transactions was a shocking and highly condemnable act. A top religious clergy has rather deplored by saying that those behind the selling of Kashmir’s covid orphans have no right to live in society, and the incident should be condemned in severest terms.
An overarching view of present conditions in Kashmir in which social evils have sprung up and the fragile atmosphere in J&K may be a cause behind it.
The alleged sale of Kashmiri children rendered orphaned after losing their parents to Covid19 does not go well with the general character of local society and its ethos.
The administration should go deep into and be broad based and the probe should not be confined to this episode only. Children orphaned by Covid in Kashmir are falling prey to adoption rackets run by dubious organisations that masquerade as charities and put up such kids for sale at prices ranging between Rs 75,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh each reflecting the degeneration of social values in society. Police have arrested two persons and sealed the office of the dubious NGO.
The culprits were arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by Shabnam Kamili, mission director of Integrated Child Protection Services (ICPS) in J&K. The official decided to act after she learnt that the racket was thriving on social media.
Based on a continuing investigation by an officer of the rank of deputy SP, the office of an NGO that calls itself Global Welfare Charitable Trust was sealed for alleged trafficking of Covid victims’ kids. One Mohammad Amin Rather has been identified as the founder of the organisation. The police are investigating another NGO, Noble Foundation, that was started by the other accused Ajaz Ahmad Dar as an alleged cover for sale of kids who lost their father, mother or both parents to Covid.
Kamili said that she saw an advertisement last October about children orphaned by Covid being put up for adoption. She suspected something was amiss because there was a passing mention of some of these orphans being from J&K. “My fears were confirmed this week when the same advertisement reappeared on a social media platform. I immediately informed the police,” she said.
Social welfare secretary Sheetal Nanda took up the issue with IGP Kumar, who instituted an inquiry.
According to Kamili, around 635 kids who lost one of their parents to Covid were registered with her department. Another 15 children orphaned by the virus are currently staying with their legal guardians and ICPS is monitoring their well-being, she said.
Kamili said the department had uploaded information about all these children on the stipulated central government portals and submitted a report to the women and child welfare ministry. The criminals involved should not go scot-free as the incident has sent shivers within the society.
