Man on a mission

Nahar with students from Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast at Sarhad School in Katraj, Pune

The Kashmiri children and youth have enormous potential. I salute Pune and Maharashtra for accepting these children and accommodating them through Sarhad. Once their ordeal comes to an end, they can give direction to not just their state, but light a path for the country and world," said former President of India Late APJ Abdul Kalam in June 2005, as he referred to Pune-based NGO Sarhad.

Sarhad is a Persian word, meaning border or frontier. In 1995, activist Sanjay Nahar started this social organisation, after having worked closely with the people and authorities in two border states of India, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. "Through Sarhad, over a hundred orphans and below poverty line kids were brought from localities of strife-stricken Kashmir and were provided quality education in Pune," Nahar remembers.

Apart from the Valley, Nahar's attention was drawn to the northeast as well. "This was even before our NGO came into being, around the 1980s. The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) agitation was in full swing back then. Over a period of time, we learned of the excellent work of the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) for the upliftment of the Bodo community in violence-hit districts of Assam. My work expanded here too," Nahar shares.

Sanjay Nahar

It is this journey of 26 years and the network Nahar created that helped him bust a human trafficking scam recently. At least eight youngsters, including a minor girl, were rescued by volunteers of NGO Sarhad and sent back to their homes in Assam. "In the past few years, our work has reached the Bodo tribes in Assam, Kokrajhar and some other districts. Kids from these areas come to the Sarhad School in Katraj, Pune, to get quality education. Eight such teenagers were lured into J&K by a recruiting agency," Nahar tells us.

Little did the kids know that they were being scammed. Nahar continues, "A recruitment firm promised them high-paying jobs [R8,500 per month] in apple farms and fruit-processing factories. They immediately agreed and left their homes. However, when they landed there, they were sent to estates and private homes to work as domestic labour. They were being treated badly, but there was no way out."

Also Read: What's at the heart of another New Delhi?

When Nahar and his team found out, they began a thorough investigation in the region. "With the help of our friend Aqib Bhat, president of Sarhad J&K Students' Association, we managed to communicate with the recruiting agency. They said the kids were bound by a contract and therefore, could not leave their jobs. We requested that they be released, but in vain. Finally, in a few days, we managed to rescue the kids and sent them home via flight."

The NGO had informed the police about the scam, but figured out the rest of the logistics independently. "We thanked the cops for cooperating with us later, of course. But, our priority at the time was to get the kids home safe," he adds.

Now, Nahar has started to take up the issue of human trafficking and bonded labour-style employment very seriously. He believes about 1,000 more Assamese kids may have been similarly duped and sent to J&K by the recruiting agency. "We are in constant touch with ABSU's chief executive officer Pramod Boro to track these children. We will conduct a thorough probe in both the states and find out ways in which these kids can be given employment opportunities in Assam itself. Some of them are very poor, and their parents don't mind making their kids toil for a meagre amount in Kashmir. It is really unfortunate. We believe that it's a stable job close to home that will see them at peace," Nahar informs.

Nahar was only 25 when he started work to better the lives of common people in Kashmir. Almost 26 years later, he says his mission has only begun. "The time is ripe. There is lots left to do."