"Can hanging the killers in jail alleviate our grief?"

After eight long years, the trial of the Baldia Factory Fire case came to a conclusion on Tuesday. The families of the victims, both alive and dead, ask for the conspirators behind the inferno to be brought to justice too and for some effort by the authorities to ease their difficulties.

Two hundred and sixty-four labourers were burnt alive in the fire at the Ali Enterprises garment factory in Baldia Town on September 11, 2012. A special anti-terrorism court announced its verdict and sent two workers of the Muttahida Quami Movement to the gallows. Some of the other accused were convicted, yet others, including MQM-P's Rauf Siddiqui and the businessmen who allegedly embezzled funds from the compensation money intended for the victims, were acquitted for lack of evidence, and two others, including MQM's Hammad Siddiqui who allegedly gave the instructions to set the factory ablaze, remain absconding.

Broken bones, shattered dreams

When the fire broke out, Shahzad Ali, 46, was on the first floor of the factory, where he sewed garments. "It was like doomsday," he recounts. Flames licked the building, there was smoke everywhere, and all around him, fellow-labourers were collapsing due to suffocation.

He ran for his life and found that the main gate of the factory, which he says would never be closed, was closed that day. Shahzad returned to the first floor. "I picked up the sewing machine off the table and hit the window. The grill broke and I jumped out". All those still breathing inside were trying to get out somehow. Shahzad survived but he lives with a life-long disability. He had to undergo an operation for artificial implantation of his broken joints and sold his house to pay for it. "I live in a rented house now. Doctors have suggested I use crutches," says Shahzad. His three sons and two daughters had to forgo their education for the family could no longer afford to pay. "I wanted them to read and write. To progress. But after my disability, all my dreams were shattered. I lost my job."

Shahzad now sews at his rented house and works for different factories to provide for his wife and children.

"The court verdict sent two accused to death. It is a good verdict. But this decision can neither heal our wounds nor solve our miseries."

He appealed to the prime minister and the Chief Justice of Pakistan to bring the other accused and facilitators of the fire, as well as the owners of the factory, to justice. To set a precedent such that such crimes do not happen again.

Shahzad's wife, Gulshan Farah, tells The Express Tribune that there are many others, who like her family, were affected by this incident.

"Many families lost their loved ones forever. The government should provide employment, at least, to every affected family," she says. "Provide one job in each household. My husband can no longer work but my children are able to work."

Gulshan asks for employment for them so that the family can lead their lives peacefully.

Rest of their lives

One such family, which lost their loved one forever was Muhammad Iqbal Qadri's. Qadri, a resident of Baldia Town who had worked at the Ali Enterprises factory for 12 years, did not make it out of the building alive. He left behind a wife and five children, the youngest born three months after his death.

"We can never forget that day," says his wife, speaking to The Express Tribune. Iqbal had recently returned from Umrah. On that fateful day, he offered his morning prayers as always, he ate his breakfast and kissed the children goodbye before leaving for work. He returned home at lunchtime, prayed, and left for the factory again. It was like any other day till it wasn't. "We were informed of the fire in the evening. My children became orphans."

It took three days to find Iqbal's body, says Muhammad Ismail, Iqbal's brother. "They took away my brother. They have to be held accountable."

Iqbal's wife says they have no one except God. They received Rs900,000 as compensation, she tells. "Can I raise five children [on this amount] for the rest of my life? We live in a rented house. It is difficult to meet expenses." She appealed for a house for her and her children. As for the court's decision, she said she was satisfied. Those who killed her husband and countless others should be hanged soon, she says.

Iqbal's eldest son, Muhammad Ahmed Raza, adds, however, that it is an open secret as to who is involved in this tragedy. "Let everyone be caught." "I haven't even seen Abbu [father]," adds his youngest daughter, Ayman.

These people took the breadwinners of these affected families, says Iqbal's cousin. "Can hanging the killers in jail alleviate their grief?" he asks of the government.