Kasur: LEAD's Chief
Advocate Sardar Mushtaq Gill,a Human Rights Defender, came to know,the shocking incident took place on
29 January, 2014, when one Christian woman brick kiln worker, namely
Ms.Salamatay Bibi 48 years age, Mr. Aziz Masih her son, Arshad Masih alias
Papu, and two others, were “brutally beaten along with their families including
women, and children” by local brick kiln owner and six “unknown” persons, and
later were forcibly taken to Brick Kiln of Rang Baig “with the threat of
weapons.”
Gill
said that when he first heard of the shocking incident, he and a LEAD team
rushed to the kiln, and asked people who watched the shocking incident what had
occurred, and they said that the brick kiln owner and others had “beaten them
with heavy clubs and sticks and hung them on the front side of wall of a house.
Mr.Gill
added that after this “brutal and inhuman hitting,” the victims “became injured
and cannot be able to work to earn a livelihood for their families and they are
terrified and under fear.
"I
have been beaten and badly tortured because some other workers of the
brick kiln's owner were run away and those are our relatives and my
son also took a loan of Rs.70,000 from the brick kiln owner who also run away
and they forced me to call them and to bring them back, when my husband asked
the brick kiln owner that we will pay the debt loan, they demanded back with
interest of Rs.3,00,000/-.they broke my nails of feet with pliers and I borne
bitter pain, and I called my son and my son told the kiln owner about the other
our relatives, then the kiln owner along with his men brought them back and beaten and hit them all.I have marks of hitting on my whole body" Bibi told Gill.
Mr.Gill
asked how much loan had been taken by her relatives, she told the brick kiln
owner demanded Rs.5,00,000/-.She added that now all were under the custody of
the brick kiln owner and he would take forcibly work from them until and unless
some other brick kiln owner would not pay back the said loan money and for this
my husband was trying to arrange.
When
Gill asked ,"would you like to register complaint in Police Station against the
brick kiln owner”, she said that she wanted to take legal action against
them but my son in law and husband told that they would create more problems
for him and for us too if we would take any step against the brick kiln owner.
This is not the first incident,
many women and girls workers reported verbally and physical sexual abuse by the
owners. It was also noticed that many children were also employed in making the
bricks. This whole incident once again highlights the seriousness of conditions
of the brick kiln workers who are badly trapped in conditions of bondage and
are facing severe exploitation in the prevailing circumstances.
"What
happens is that employers, in this case the brick kiln owners, advance sums of
money to the labourers to meet urgent trivial household needs, because the
wages paid to the labourers are so low, the loans cannot be paid back even over
many years, and the workers cannot leave the kiln as they are indebted to the
owners," told Gill.
Gill
met a seven-year-old boy Akram who works up to 14 hours a day in a brick kiln
in Kasur, about 60 km south of Lahore. His hands bear burn marks from placing
bricks in the kiln.
"I have been doing this work since I was four. Even when I was younger, I
helped my mother," Akram told Gill, before he was pulled away by his other
brother, Aslam, who said, “We don't want any trouble and we 'belong' to the brick kiln owner and
cannot leave this work and place."
There are reportedly 350,000
brick kiln workers in 15,000 brick kilns across the Punjab province. The brick
kiln owners do not register themselves under Employees’ Social Security
Ordinance, 1965 to avoid making payment of the contribution instead of Court
order. The Government of Pakistan passed the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act,
1992, and the Bonded
Labour System (Abolition) Rules, 1995, which prohibit and punish
bonded labour. Despite these laws, hundreds of thousands of people are engaged in bonded labour in Pakistan, the
practise continues despite the fact the Supreme Court of Pakistan abolished
bonded labour two decades ago .The
majority of brick kiln workers are Christians.
The worst thing is that the
majority of these brick kiln workers are not even registered as citizens. These
workers usually move from place to place and have no identity cards, social
security cards, medical benefits or any other benefits which are being enjoyed
by permanent government employees.
It was
quite noteworthy that the people took great personal risks to share with the LEAD
team their testimonies in spite of the constant and threatening presence of the
brick kiln owner and his men.
LEAD Chief, Advocate Sardar
Mushtaq Gill request to all Human Rights organisations and world community
should consider the dilemma of these brick kiln workers and
make pressurized Pakistani government to implement the laws
against the bonded labour. They are actually
very defenseless and are passing their lives under the obscurity of destitution, anxiety and social remoteness.They must
be empowered.
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