CAPITALIZING on the fact that young children are more suitable for horse racing as they are light, which enables the horses to carry them easily, some southern districts of Bangladesh are witnessing an upsurge and a renewal of using children horse jockeys for riding. With no safety gear whatsoever, not even an appropriate saddle, children who are supposed to be in school become jockeys in Bangladesh.
It is remarkable that previously, for decades, scores of Bangladeshi children were smuggled to the Middle East to be used as camel jockeys. Now, in the face of international outcries, when using children as jockeys is finally approaching an end in the Middle East, a national daily has reported yesterday that it is getting a new life in horse racing in Jhalakathi and its neighbouring districts. In Bangladesh, these children are now subjected to more perilous conditions than they were before in the Middle East.
Local businessmen organize horse races on the sidelines of local fairs. Three to five horse races are being organised in Jhalakathi every week. These races are, in fact, a type of gambling of sorts and as such a good business though illegal horses of the area are also used in races in the neighbouring districts. Children as young as five are joining the risky job of horse jockeys.
Average age of these kids is 8-9 years. Severe impoverishment forces families to send these kids to work which involves every potential of fall and injury. Many of the kids have left the job several times, but the owners brought them back by persuading their poor parents, who are in desperate need of money. However, the law of risk and return is not working in this business apparently. The kids earn merely Tk 50 per race while their masters earn a handsome profit.
Moreover, no permission was taken from the police in this regard. Horse racing itself is not illegal but the law clearly prohibits engaging children in such risky jobs, so in turn, horse races that use children as jockeys are illegal. The Child Act 2013 prohibits engaging children in hazardous work. Under the law, any one under the age of 18 is a child.
We think that any horse race that involves children should be outright banned at once and if needed, necessary laws in this regard be enacted to prevent this game that jeopardize the futures of scores of minors. Proper investigations should be done in the concerned districts so that no child is hired in such games. We also should think more deeply about the other aspect i.e. the hardcore poverty that compels parents to send their children in such jobs even against the will of their child. Without solving this problem first there will be only a partial solution to this problem which is not sustainable in the long run.
