"We Need to Respect the Dignity of Our Children":Veteran Activist Sheela Barse in Conversation with Anurag Bhaskar

Sheela Barse is a veteran activist and journalist, and is often credited with introducing the concept of child rights in India. She played a major role in enactment of a uniform Juvenile Justice law in the 1980s, and led several public interest litigation cases before the Supreme Court of India. She has also been instrumental in framing policies against human trafficking, child sexual abuse, and child labour. Sheela Barse speaks about her life with JGLS Faculty Anurag Bhaskar (for Live Law).Anurag : Ms. Barse, you have spent around five decades of your life fighting for several human rights and child rights issues through your journalism, field activism, successive public interest litigation cases, advocacy and policy framing. What made you step "into the arena of public expression and action"? Did any particular moment decide the course of your life?Sheela: I don't think that there was any particular moment. My life bears the imprints of the experiences I had as a child. My parents were influential in shaping my thought process. My father's friendliness towards others impacted me. I still remember I was about 9 years of age, when holding me close his chest, my father, Sawalaram, said to me once or twice – "Don't be too proud of your intelligence. Be Humble". Few other incidents shaped my outlook towards society. As a kid, I was horrified to witness continuous severe beating of a Dalit boy by my teacher in the class. It was the first time I was introduced to the reality of caste in India. I learnt more about social inequalities with time. During college years, my father and mother, Nirmala, supported my interest in reading. But, it was the suspension of fundamental rights during the Emergency (1975-77) imposed by Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi, which compelled me to enter public arena as a freelancer and an activist. I felt that Mrs. Indira Gandhi succeeded because Bharatiyas (Indians) had yet to learn to be citizens. We have to be participative, prabhaavi (effective) citizens. The majority – the disadvantaged citizens — were invisible in public space at that time. As I started writing about them initially, they began turning up at my residence for helpAnurag : You started your career as a journalist. In the early 1980s, you wrote extensively on child sexual abuse, sex trafficking, child labour, need for a separate juvenile justice law, etc. Because of your writings and advocacy in those years, you are often credited for introducing the concept of child rights in India. What was going on in your mind in those years? Sheela: The reality that one saw ... it contradicted the heritage literature. The society has been unequal, and we need to keep making efforts to make it egalitarian. We need to speak for the downtrodden sections of society. Our children are the most vulnerable segment of society. We need to respect their dignity. We need to make a better future for them. Anurag : During my undergraduate legal education, I had read numerous cases filed by you before the Supreme Court and High Courts. You took up the cause of child victims of flesh trade, the rights of children in custodial institutions, children in police lock-ups, tribal children's undernutrition and deaths, women prisoners being abused in imprisonment, mental health of prisoners, etc. While working as a journalist, how did you manage court litigation ? Were you supported by a team ? Sheela: I worked absolutely solo. At that time, challenging power was generally not a goal of young people and certainly discouraged by their parents... I used to work as a freelancer to finance the cases which I filed before the courts.Anurag : In a number of cases, the investigation was done by yourself. The work done by you led the Supreme Court to rule in favor of providing free legal aid to under-trial prisoners, identification and release of children detained in jails, and to look into improper working of the Observation Home at Mumbai managed by the Children's Aid Society, etc. How did your investigative journalism complement the work that you did in courts? Can you describe some incidents for the readers? Sheela: All the cases were my own investigation and research. As a freelance journalist, I picked up issues which were neglected by society. I used to gather primary material and evidence, based on which I went before courts. In some cases, I had to fight against the information blockade. One of my less discussed fights is of Right to Information. In an incident of death of tribal children in a village, I filed a petition before the Court seeking a copy of the report prepared by the Principal Secretary of Maharashtra government. I am writing my autobiography, where I will be describing all these stories and my experiences in detail. Anurag : How did you manage collecting information when there was no internet or the right to information law?Sheela: Like I said, I...

"We Need to Respect the Dignity of Our Children":Veteran Activist Sheela Barse in Conversation with Anurag Bhaskar

Anurag Bhaskar