While sitting in the border shack, Nick began talking with one Indian officer who spoke excellent English. The man said he had been dispatched by the intelligence bureau to monitor the border. “So what exactly are you monitoring?” Nick asked. “We’re looking for terrorists, or terror supplies,” said the man, who wasn’t monitoring anything very closely, since one truck after another was driving past. “After 9/11, we’ve tightened things up here. And we’re also looking for smuggled or pirated goods. If we find them, we’ll confiscate them.” “What about trafficked girls?” Nick asked. “Are you keeping an eye out for them? There must be a lot.” “Oh, a lot. But we don’t worry about them. There’s nothing you can do about them.” “Well, you could arrest the traffickers. Isn’t trafficking girls as important as pirating DVDs?” The intelligence officer laughed genially and threw up his hands. “Prostitution is inevitable.” He chuckled. “There has always been prostitution in every country. And what’s a young man going to do from the time when he turns eighteen until when he gets married at thirty?” “Well, is the best solution really to kidnap Nepali girls and imprison them in Indian brothels?” The officer shrugged, unperturbed. “It’s unfortunate,” he agreed. “These girls are sacrificed so that we can have harmony in society. So that good girls can be safe.” “But many of the Nepali girls being trafficked are good girls, too.” “Oh, yes, but those are peasant girls. They can’t even read. They’re from the countryside. The good Indian middle-class girls are safe.” Nick, who had been gritting his teeth, offered an explosive suggestion: “I’ve got it! You know, in the United States we have a lot of problems with harmony in society. So we should start kidnapping Indian middle-class girls and forcing them to work in brothels in the United States! Then young American men could have fun, too, don’t you think? That would improve our harmony in society!” There was an ominous silence, but finally the police officer roared with laughter. “You are joking!” the officer said, beaming. “That’s very funny!” Nick gave up. Pasaje de: Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn. “Half the Sky.
Posted on: Fri, 02 May 2014 15:57:36 +0000