Bonded labour persists despite local, global legislation: Dr Abbasi

Former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general Dr Sanaullah Abbasi has conducted a research on bonded labour in Sindh, and shared his suggestions with The News to overcome the issue.

Dr Abbasi, who has also served as the provincial chief of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), says bonded labour is a nagging problem prevalent at global level, but it is more serious in Third World countries, where poverty and human rights violations are rampant.

He says that its origin, emphasis and importance can be traced back to the era of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the great philosopher of the 18th century, who opened his tremendously powerful treatise ‘The Social Contract’ with the dramatic sentence: “Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”

He points out that though the context was entirely different, the fact remains that slavery exists throughout the world in one shape or the other.

He also says that in poor and uneducated societies, women and children are almost always dependent on men, and are deprived of their basic rights.

He explains that in the tradition of bonded labour, the entire family of the victim is treated as a pool of labour among landlords and employers.

In its worst form, he further explains, girls and women are separated from their parents and husbands, and they are sexually harassed and exploited, tortured and trafficked.

He laments that despite the existence of local legislation as well as international legislation, bonded labour has been persisting in the country unabated and almost with impunity.

South Asia situation

Dr Abbasi says South Asia is comprised of seven countries: four of these — Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka — once formed British India, while Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives were not colonised during their modern history.

He says South Asia is an abode of ancient civilisations along the Ganges and Indus rivers, and around half of the world’s poorest people call it their home.

Poor people here, he adds, earn less than a dollar a day, and it is in this zone of the world where poverty is concentrated.

He also says the bonded labour scenario is appalling in South Asia, where it is widely prevalent. An extremely large number of low caste labourers, minorities and migrants have been suffering generation after generation due to forced labour and debt bondage, he adds.

He explains that in South Asia bonded labour exists in huge proportions, as people get trapped in a kind of involuntary servitude that they normally pass on to posterity.

He further explains that once they accept debt from their employers, they enter a vicious circle that they cannot manage to get out of during their lifetime.

Despite legislation and state protection against bonded labour, millions and millions of people have been suffering from a permanent subjugation in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and other South Asian states, he laments.

Dr Abbasi says Pakistan has a population of over 165 million, and the quantum of the issue of bonded labour in the country cannot be precisely assessed because no survey has been conducted by the government.

Yet, he points out, it is generally claimed that bonded labour exists in various parts of the country, particularly in the sectors of brick kiln and agriculture.

He also points out that Article 11(1) of Pakistan’s constitution prohibits slavery and forced labour, and in 1988 the Supreme Court had directed the then federal government to codify the spirit of the constitution and provide punishment for such crimes through legislation.

He recalls that the SC had issued the order taking cognisance of the incidence of bonded labour practices in brick kilns. This led to the promulgation of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1992, which provides a clear definition of bonded labour and prescribes punishment for such practices, he remarked.

Quoting Section 2(e) of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1992, the former FIA chief says the Act gives quite a comprehensive definition of bonded labour:

“’bonded labour system’ means the system of forced, or partly forced, labour under which a debtor enters, or has, or is presumed to have, entered into an agreement with the creditor to the effect that, —

“(i) in consideration of advance (peshgi) obtained by him or by any of the members of his family [whether or not such advance (peshgi) is evidence by any document] and in consideration of the interest, if any, due on such advance (peshgi), or

“(ii) in pursuance of any customary or social obligation, or (iii) for any economic consideration received by him or by any of the members of his family he would —

“(1) render, by himself or through any member of his family, or any person dependent on him, labour or service to the creditor, or for the benefit of the creditor, for a specified period or for an unspecified period, either without wages or for nominal wages, or

“(2) forfeit the freedom of employment or adopting other means of livelihood for a specified period or for an unspecified period, or (3) forfeit the right to move freely from place to place, or

“(4) forfeit the right to appropriate or sell at market value any of his property or product of his labour or the labour of a member of his family or any person dependent on him,

“and includes the system of forced, or partly forced, labour under which a surety for a debtor enters, or has or is presumed to have, entered, into an agreement with the creditor to the effect that,

“in the event of the failure of the debtor to repay the debt, he would render the bonded labour on behalf of the debtor.”

Hyderabad situation

The former CTD chief says Hyderabad Region consists of two zones: Hyderabad itself and Mirpurkhas Zone, which consists of Hyderabad, Dadu, Nawabshah, Thatta, Tando Allahyar, Tando Mohammad Khan, Badin, Mithiani, Jamshoro, Sanghar, Mithi, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas and Tharparkar districts.

He says the population is mixed, with Muslims in majority, and Hindus, mainly scheduled caste and working class, in a dilapidated condition. The region borders with India, Karachi (urban city) and upper Sindh, he adds.

He also says that the main income sources of the region are agriculture and the small cottage industry, with other allied industries like the brick kiln industry.

The gap ratio between the haves and the have-nots is big, and their relationship is not so inimical, but at times becomes tense, creating tension in society at large, he adds.

As for the workforce, which is the backbone of the economy in this region, he laments that they are living a subhuman life, as the manifestation of bonded labour or forced labour.

He remarks that the main chunk of labour is provided by the contractor, pointing out that there is the employer and the employee, and the third-party is the contractor. He explains that the advance is given either directly or through the contractor for various reasons to the poor employees without documentation.

He further explains that the whole process of daily/weekly wages, directly or through the contractor, and the payment of advance is without either documentation or guarantees, putting the worker at a disadvantageous position and without any legal right, making them weaker and more vulnerable to exploitation.

He says the employees are so bonded through these loans that they can not repay it because of the high interest rate, as it gets compounded to the extent that their next generations are bonded like slaves.

He also says that the entire family is involved in the business of making bricks, receiving payment for only one male member. Female members, children and adolescents are also engaged in this business, he adds.

Dr Abbasi says the deduction for the debt is made and fresh loans are given, trapping the employees completely. Their social compulsions like weddings, accidents, heavy rains and funerals cause more debts, he laments.

He says the children learn this craft of making bricks and continue the means of livelihood. They remain in the profession until the eternal debt can be paid, which is actually never paid, so these children grow into adults in slavery or bondage, he adds.