International Day for the Abolition of Slavery: Is the mankind free from the shackles of slavery in 21st century in real sense

Today the ‘International Day for Abolition of Slavery’ is being celebrated through out the world. All the countries, big or small, rich or poor, democracies or the totalitarians, are proud to celebrate this day. All the people make new pledges and refresh the old ‘pledges’  to purge the society from the ills of slavery, to ensure the liberties and to safeguard the human rights. It’s a good omen that at least people across the globe are aware of what is a slavery and what is meant by liberty?

The world has come a long way forward in its journey towards the attainment of freedom and liberty. Gone are days when people like Genghis Khan or Tamerlane would step out to conquer the world and set ablaze everything that came in their way and subjugate the conquered ones to their slavery. Similarly the days of absolute monarchs and autocrats like Hitler and Mussolini are also receding in oblivion under heavy public pressure.  One would think that in this scenario the world now must be a cradle of peace, free of injustices and slavery. Unfortunately it is not.

The slavery still exists in the world. It has changed its form. The masters have changed their techniques to subjugate the weak. The employment and exploitation of today’s ‘salves’ have changed.  At micro level, today’s masters are the ones who have grabbed power in their countries. The means used may be  so-called ‘fair and free election’ or through a military quo d’état ’. These rulers, in collaboration with other ‘stake holders’ keep exploiting the poor segments of society. They mess up wealth in foreign accounts and keep their people to the status of beggars. In order to keep a firm grip on the reins of power, they invariably resort to human rights abuse and curb the liberties of their people. They impose cruel restrictions / censorship and make it impossible for the masses to get justice from the courts. They never allow the judiciary and law & order mechanism to function independently and impartially. They let loose their conies who resort to forced labor, forced marriages, human trafficking and even underground crime mafias.

The above description may seem to related with the poor and under developed countries  of the third world. However the situation is not so bright and admirable in the so called developed and civilized world. There are the strong and economically powerful countries who exploit the poor ones with impunity. There are the likes of World Bank, IMF, WTO and so many others who’s monetary and trade policies are taking a heavy toll of the poor countries.

The end sufferer is again the poor person, who was a slave in the past, is a slave in the present time and may remain a slave in future, unless the humanity and morality takes precedence over the prevailing materialism. Let us hope for that in order to see a man who is free from the shackles of all kinds of exploitation.

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