Bonded humans of Pakistan

The popular social media movement Humans of New York’s (HONY) series on Pakistan, while presenting an alternative and positive view of the country contrary to the one that is often portrayed in the international media, ended on a sombre note as focus shifted to the lives of brick kiln workers employed as bonded labour. These accounts of workers in bondage are a stark reminder of how cruel and exploitative our society is for people from low-income groups, particularly the labour class. HONY’s account of the harrowing conditions that bonded labourers work and live in, moved people from around the world to send in donations to the tune of nearly $2 million for the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, which fights for the rights of these workers. The organisation is run by Syeda Ghulam Fatima, who has been harassed and tortured for her work, but dedicatedly continues with it.

The question is, why we in Pakistan, people and the government, cannot see the brutality of brick kiln owners and end it? What HONY has displayed is nothing new or unique. These are stories that we, as a society, often come across. Yet, we remain largely indifferent to such exploitation. There are an estimated 2.8 million bonded labourers employed in agriculture and brick kilns, but their sufferings barely hurt people’s conscience. One often reads about the horrors of slavery that existed in distant countries a long time ago, but we are oblivious to the plight of our own people who are sold from one brick kiln owner to another, in present-day Pakistan. Brick kiln owners are often influential people having connections with the powerful of the land and so are often immune from the reaches of the law. There seems to be little motivation at the governmental level to put an end to this modern-day slavery right in the heart of Pakistan. What is needed is a crackdown on bonded labour in the country, and an implementation of relevant labour laws. However, given the current state of affairs, this appears to be a distant dream.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th,  2015.

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