Exploitation

I am a 15-year old daily wage sanitation worker. I sweep the streets of Karachi and work at the bottom of the food chain. Above me are at least three tiers of contractors and subcontractors. I am paid an illegal wage of Rs15,000 per month and work 30 days without any breaks. Words like democracy, constitution and rule of law are irrelevant and meaningless jargon for me. The only reality I know is that millions like us have been collectively deceived and exploited by our inept leaders for the past 76 years. Where is constitution and rule of law when I am denied an education; when I am used as a child labour; when I am paid less than the legal minimum wage; when I am denied my right to have an EOBI account; and when I am not given sick leaves?

I therefore demand that I may be spared from this constitutional agony and be given the right not to vote for any of the power-hungry, self-serving politicians. The government should add a ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) option on the ballot paper so we can reject these politicians who did not care about their people.

Ghulam Hussain

Karachi