Karachi August 6,2007:To highlight the issue of bonded labor in Pakistan especially in Sindh, where more than 75% of the labor force consist of farm laborers a conference was organized in Karachi. The Hari Conference gathered more than 150 hari participants, print and electronic media representatives and members of civil society.
Bonded Labor is a grave problem faced by laborers all over the country but situation is worse in Sindh. Bonded labor is not only taking new shapes but debt bondage is entrapping more and more people into this evil trap. According to a report an estimated figure of 27 million globally and 15-20 million human beings are enslaved in bonded labor in India, Pakistan and Nepal only.
In Pakistan bonded labor is called debt bondage as well, where people pledge themselves and at times their families against a loan taken from the master or owner of the land. These laborers being unable to pay back their loans remain in bondage across generations. They not only remain bonded and live a life of slavery but are also repressed by the feudal lords. The brick kiln workers have to face repression at the hand of their masters. The women bonded laborers are even worst off who not only have to work side by side with men in the fields or the kilns but also have to work at homes as domestic servants. Sometimes they also have to face physical molestation at the hands of their masters. In severe cases these innocent female bonded laborers are also raped by the landlords.
During the first session Mr.Zulfiqar Ali Shah from PILER and Iqbal Detho, Secretary National Coalition against Bonded Labor and working with SPARC highlighted the definition of bonded labor and gave various statistics regarding the phenomena. The speakers opined that constitutionally bonded labor is abandoned in the country and it is illegal to keep people under debt bondage according to article 8 and 9 of the constitution of Pakistan.
The speakers said that bonded labor in the agriculture sector was a direct result of the non-implementation of land reforms and, therefore, more prevalent in Pakistan than in India and Bangladesh, where feudalism was abolished.
The conference also dealt with child-bonded labor and referred to a Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) report, which estimates that almost 10 million children work to support their families. According to other estimates, 25 million children do not go to school and, therefore, are potential child laborers. Similarly in bonded labor, as a natural consequence of the lack of educational facilities and extreme poverty, children of bonded laborers start work with their parents from an age as young as four or five and continue with it till the debt is paid, which seldom happens.
In the second session the speakers Adam Malik, ActionAid, Mustafa Talpur, Program Coordinator WWF- Pakistan, Sabihuddin Ghaussi, Dawn, Ramzan Memon, political activist and Barrister ZafarUllah, renowned lawyer of Supreme Court called for safeguarding rights of haris and protecting their interests. The speakers said that the lands should be distributed among the landless haris in accordance with the agricultural reforms which were announced on Jan 5, 1977, and suggested that the piece of land under the use of a hari family for residential purposes be transferred to the family by its owner, be it the landlord or the government. It also called for physical possession of the lands, granted under the reforms, to the haris. The conference urged the government to arrange for the registration of haris under the Sindh Tenancy Act (STA) so that all transactions with them could be documented. It demanded implementation of the STA after incorporating the recommendations of the haris' organizations.
In the third session an interactive theatre performance was presented by Bhindar Hari Sangat which was appreciated by the audience. Highlighting the issues of women bonded laborers a documentary was shown titled "story of Marwa". Moreover in the session issue of right to land with a special focus on the women laborers was highlighted. Fozia Wahab, MNA PPP shared political perspective on the issues of women bonded laborers. Nabila Aslam, producer InterNews presented her experience of working with the women bonded laborers.
Highlights of the event:
