The govt should wake up and take serious steps for the eradication of slavery and rehabilitation of bonded labourers.
ISLAMABAD: This is with reference to a report in your newspaper on December 3 titled “Child labour: Chains of slavery”. The Bonded Labour System Abolition Act 1992 is on the statute books but exists without practical implementation. The Bonded Labour Fund established in 2000 by Pervez Musharraf couldn’t bring any changes in the lives of thousands of labourers who are working in bondage in the agriculture sector and also in brick kilns across the country. Where is our government’s commitment? What happened to the slogans of roti, kapra aur makan? Why are the freed haris in Sikandarabad, Baba Salahuddin, Azad Nagar and Himatabad camps living in miserable conditions despite several years of their release from bondage? The government should wake up and take serious steps for the eradication of slavery and for the rehabilitation of freed bonded labourers.
Arshad Mahmood
Published in The Express Tribune, December 7th, 2010.
