World Social Justice Day: Comrade Lali frees 15,000 haris from private jails

Comrade Lali has been fighting against bonded labour for the last 15 years.

KARACHI: Cleaning the entrance of her mud house and feeding her cattle, Lali - now known as Comrade Lali - has helped in the emancipation of over 15,000 haris trapped in private jails. A captive in a landlord’s private jail herself for 22 years, she made it her mission to release all those like her.

“The landlords used to force us to work for them, cut sugarcane for them. They used to beat me a lot. They even had my sister killed,” she recalls.

The United Nations declares that social development can only be achieved through social justice, which is why the day is observed every year on February 20 to raise awareness among people of their basic rights. Comrade Lali is aware about the importance of social justice, but she says, “They keep saying that they are doing something for the poor but they don’t realise our plight. The poor have no food to eat and no clothes to wear.”

Lali’s comrade Ghulam Hussain Malokani is also helping her in her fight. “If social justice is provided, at least the labourers and haris can earn their living. At least they won’t be held against their will as bonded labour.” People need to know how to protect their rights, he says.

Official and political circles have been reluctant to accept the fact that bonded labour exists in the agriculture sector in Sindh, according to an International Labour Organisation paper Bonded Labour in Agriculture: A Rapid Assessment in Sindh and Balochistan, Pakistan published in 2004.

The report cites the political-feudal nexus and the definition of bondage itself being coloured by the spectrum of arrangements in the agriculture sector as the main reasons why the issue is not realised. “Haris most prone to bondage do not own their housing and are entirely dependent on the landlord for daily consumption requirements and for meeting emergencies,” according to the paper.

World Social Justice Day

The General Assembly proclaimed February 20 as World Day of Social Justice in 2007, inviting member states to devote the day to promoting national activities in accordance with the objectives and goals of the World Summit for Social Development and the 24th session of the General Assembly. Observance of World Day of Social Justice should support efforts of the international community in poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment and decent work, gender equity and access to social well-being and justice for all. UN website

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2011.