According to the 2018 Global slavery index,3,186,000 people are enslaved in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Bonded labour can be called a kind of modern slavery. Moreover, it involves a special type of forced labour that only exists in agricultural societies and Asian countries; it is also widespread in Pakistan. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), forced labour includes any kind of services or work which involves someone involuntarily. The most common factor of those enslaved is bonded labour or “Debt Bondage”. Besides, it does not only involve just an individual but the debt gets passed on from generation to generation. These labourers are not only subjected to physical violence but also to sexual exploitation and mental torture. According to the 2014 Global slavery index, 2,058,200 people are enslaved in Pakistan and in 2018 Global slavery index, it rises to around 3,186,000. The Bonded Labour Abolition Act of 1992 was introduced with the affirmed purpose of abolishing this feudal system. Yet, the major problem in our country is that we have created laws for everything, but did not strategise how to implement them. This ultimately leads to poor implementation. Many of the bonded labourers are going through societal problems. They do not have their legal documents and without these documents most of them are unable to send their children to school nor can they avail basic facilities. This problem will remain unsolved if we do not focus our efforts towards its solution. Firstly, as a human being it is our responsibility to discourage this act. Secondly, the media can provide help to these people by highlighting their issues. Lastly, it is the responsibility of the government to safeguard and facilitate each and every citizen of Pakistan.
Hadia Aziz
Published in The Express Tribune, December 10th, 2019.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
