Bonded labour still alive and suffering in Sindh
August 23, 2008
Karachi
International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is being celebrated all over the world on August 23 (today). Few organisations in Sindh have also designed activities to express solidarity with the people, who are still spending miserable lives being enslaved or bonded labour in the province.
Dr Haider Malokhani of Green Rural Development Organisation (GRDO) — which is fighting to protect the rights of Haris and get them released — told The News that in some areas the Haris are still chained while working and are kept locked in cells at the farms of the feudal lords. In several cases women and men of the same family are kept apart at night. Reports say that the daughters of the Haris have been sold out by land owners against the amounts they owe to them.
Bonded labour is a modern form of slavery in which a landlord, brick kiln owner or any employer forwards a loan to the Hari and kiln workers in the name of advance money and then their rights are confiscated. They have to work from dawn till dusk or as much as their employer wants. Their mobility is restricted. They cannot demand standard wages in agriculture sector and brick kiln industries. Landlords justify their action saying that these people are in debt and are unable to return the money. However, human rights activists contradicting this claim say that the landlords are denying these people of their share from the crops. Therefore, the amount of debt is multiplying day after day where entire families are working under heavy debt. Women and minor children are the ones most affected by this system.
In Sanghar, Umarkot, Mirpurkhas and parts of Badin and Thatta districts, few influential landlords have adopted strict rules, violating the prescribed laws and depriving poor families of their share of crops and detain them forcefully at the farms. Malokhani quoting the Agriculture Survey of Pakistan said some 1.8 million Haris are facing the curse of bonded labour in these five districts. He said that up till now some 35,000 persons have been released from landlords’ camps through state agencies, political parties and other civil society organisations.
Activists say that 90 per cent of the victimised communities belong to minority tribes such as Bheel, Kolhi, Manghwars and Christians while some families of marginalised Muslims are also facing similar charges of land owners. People, especially those belonging to low-caste Hindu tribes, borrow money from their landlords and spend it just to keep their customs alive.
The debt is like an iron web in which poor people are trapped. After family elders, sons, wife and daughters come under the web, they slave away at farms for the rest of their lives. The landlords have fixed a limit for debt to each person. If the entire family, including a five-year-old child, comes under debt the father may request for further debt in the name of an unborn baby.
Unfortunately, no law exists to save these people from this brutality and inhuman treatment. They cannot enjoy the rights that the constitution of the country has given them. However, the activists say that the sacked chief justice, Iftekhar Mohammed Choudhry, took suo moto action against certain landlords, forcing them to release bonded families immediately.
Ishaque Mangrio, a folklore writer says that whenever a calamity hits any area, causing huge loss to standing crops, the government announces compensation for the affected people, but it only benefits the land owners and not the farmers, who are the equal shareholders. Quoting the Tenancy Act 1972, he said that the landlord has to contribute seed and 50 per cent share of total expenditure in the harvest of paddy, wheat and sugarcane and picking of cotton crops. But the land owners are violating the law and the entire burden of expenses falls on to the farmers. Irony is that after the introduction of machinery in the agriculture sector, farmers have to bear the entire burden of cultivation of the crops as well.
Talking about the present situation, Malokhani said that the PPP-led Sindh government has announced distribution of state land among landless peasants few days ago, but how much of it will go to the released bonded labourers for their rehabilitation is still not known. Moreover, the government has allocated Rs100 million fund for the district vigilance committees and passed Bonded Labourers System Abolition Act, but all these efforts have not brought any significant change in the lives of the released bonded labourers as yet.
The GRDO is organising a convention of brick kiln workers on Sunday, August 24, who are also facing similar problems to celebrate the day. Some 400 delegates from all over the country are expected to join the convention.
International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is being celebrated all over the world on August 23 (today). Few organisations in Sindh have also designed activities to express solidarity with the people, who are still spending miserable lives being enslaved or bonded labour in the province.
Dr Haider Malokhani of Green Rural Development Organisation (GRDO) — which is fighting to protect the rights of Haris and get them released — told The News that in some areas the Haris are still chained while working and are kept locked in cells at the farms of the feudal lords. In several cases women and men of the same family are kept apart at night. Reports say that the daughters of the Haris have been sold out by land owners against the amounts they owe to them.
Bonded labour is a modern form of slavery in which a landlord, brick kiln owner or any employer forwards a loan to the Hari and kiln workers in the name of advance money and then their rights are confiscated. They have to work from dawn till dusk or as much as their employer wants. Their mobility is restricted. They cannot demand standard wages in agriculture sector and brick kiln industries. Landlords justify their action saying that these people are in debt and are unable to return the money. However, human rights activists contradicting this claim say that the landlords are denying these people of their share from the crops. Therefore, the amount of debt is multiplying day after day where entire families are working under heavy debt. Women and minor children are the ones most affected by this system.
In Sanghar, Umarkot, Mirpurkhas and parts of Badin and Thatta districts, few influential landlords have adopted strict rules, violating the prescribed laws and depriving poor families of their share of crops and detain them forcefully at the farms. Malokhani quoting the Agriculture Survey of Pakistan said some 1.8 million Haris are facing the curse of bonded labour in these five districts. He said that up till now some 35,000 persons have been released from landlords’ camps through state agencies, political parties and other civil society organisations.
Activists say that 90 per cent of the victimised communities belong to minority tribes such as Bheel, Kolhi, Manghwars and Christians while some families of marginalised Muslims are also facing similar charges of land owners. People, especially those belonging to low-caste Hindu tribes, borrow money from their landlords and spend it just to keep their customs alive.
The debt is like an iron web in which poor people are trapped. After family elders, sons, wife and daughters come under the web, they slave away at farms for the rest of their lives. The landlords have fixed a limit for debt to each person. If the entire family, including a five-year-old child, comes under debt the father may request for further debt in the name of an unborn baby.
Unfortunately, no law exists to save these people from this brutality and inhuman treatment. They cannot enjoy the rights that the constitution of the country has given them. However, the activists say that the sacked chief justice, Iftekhar Mohammed Choudhry, took suo moto action against certain landlords, forcing them to release bonded families immediately.
Ishaque Mangrio, a folklore writer says that whenever a calamity hits any area, causing huge loss to standing crops, the government announces compensation for the affected people, but it only benefits the land owners and not the farmers, who are the equal shareholders. Quoting the Tenancy Act 1972, he said that the landlord has to contribute seed and 50 per cent share of total expenditure in the harvest of paddy, wheat and sugarcane and picking of cotton crops. But the land owners are violating the law and the entire burden of expenses falls on to the farmers. Irony is that after the introduction of machinery in the agriculture sector, farmers have to bear the entire burden of cultivation of the crops as well.
Talking about the present situation, Malokhani said that the PPP-led Sindh government has announced distribution of state land among landless peasants few days ago, but how much of it will go to the released bonded labourers for their rehabilitation is still not known. Moreover, the government has allocated Rs100 million fund for the district vigilance committees and passed Bonded Labourers System Abolition Act, but all these efforts have not brought any significant change in the lives of the released bonded labourers as yet.
The GRDO is organising a convention of brick kiln workers on Sunday, August 24, who are also facing similar problems to celebrate the day. Some 400 delegates from all over the country are expected to join the convention.
