Iraqi prisoners and a little girl

So, the other day, in Motel Shaibal in Cox's Bazar, I took my breakfast, accompanied by a foreign guest. In front of our table, a nice, unmistakably rich and educated Bangladeshi Muslim family of at least one dozen members, was eating their breakfast. Suddenly, my guest stopped eating, and pointed at a small girl, most simply dressed, maybe eight years old, carrying a well fed baby. The girl, clearly the "maid servant" of the family, was not allowed to sit down, was not allowed to eat or drink, and had to carry the heavy, obese baby around the table meanwhile the members of the family were eating their delicious breakfast. The girl looked very tired and hungry, but nobody of the family even looked at her or cared about her. She simply did not exist for the family.

My guest, for the first time in Bangladesh, was disgusted and refused to continue his breakfast. I knew that it could harm the girl, if I would make a remark to the family about their behaviour. The girl could be blamed for it.

However, by keeping mum, I would agree with the inhuman treatment of the child. Therefore I stopped the eldest son of the family, when he passed our table on his way to the bathroom, after he finished his breakfast. I introduced myself, and told him, very politely, that as a foreigner I did not understand the reason why the little girl was not allowed to sit and to eat.

The reaction of the young man was astonishing. He told me: "there is no place!" We were the only guests in the restaurant and I counted more than 100 empty chairs. I told the young man that the girl was allowed to sit at our table. The young man, shamefully, went to the girl, took the baby, and put another chair on the family table. The "maid servant" was allowed to sit down and got some food.

As a foreigner, I do not understand the reason why many (educated) people in Bangladesh, so clearly, openly and without any embarrassment, preserve the use of children as "private slaves" in their households. Because without any doubts, slaves they are!

As mentioned above, in case of the abuse of the Iraqi prisoner, the world community, including the Muslims, would be correctly shocked and angry. However, the case of the small malnourished Muslim girl is considered as normal, an "everyday affair", something we witness in most of the households we visit in Bangladesh.

However the use of slaves, or the use of children as private property is absolutely not normal. It is the same human rights abuse as the abuse of the Iraqi prisoner.

We, the adults, are responsible when the rights of these children are violated.