Home, away from home

From labourers to roadside vendors, Rawalpindi has become a city of migrants. What makes them converge here is to find a job. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people from other parts of the country come here in search of work.

The signal turns red. Cars screech to a halt. The traffic-light sales brigade comes into action. Fifty-five-year-old, Ali Haider, from Bahawalpur hurries between cars trying to sell car-window cleaning cloth pieces. When asked why he left Bahawalpur, he has a ready answer, “because I had to eat and feed my family."

Nusrat Hussain along with her wife Fatima and five kids has been in the city for almost a year now and returning back home in Sukkur is not an option for him. "We aren't going back, there's nothing for us there. The decision to take a chance on a new life comes from the universal belief that life can be better," says Nusrat.

Thirteen-year old Turab Naqvi admits that he misses his family and friends in Badin but Murad Ali who is four years older is quick to reason, "If we have to live in this city we must work in the factories. Here is a better opportunity." The duo lives in a three-bedroom house with 17 other migrant youth from their hometown.

Their job is interminably long and their time is too short to be restful. The young men are grateful, nevertheless. "The landlord is from our village. He brought us here and gave us this opportunity," says Janu, whose real name is Murad Ali.

The city has been a hub for workers from cities of southern Punjab, Sindh and KPK for decades now. But the last five years have seen a sea-change in the composition of the incoming populace.

In addition to migrants from Layyah, Toba Tek Singh, Bahawalnagar, Vehari, Rahimyar Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, the city is increasingly becoming home-away-from-home for migrants from northern areas like Skardu, Gilgit, Chitral as well.

“The rush of migrant labor is here to meet a real demand: rapid and widespread construction activity. Construction workers are usually contracted from their villages and sent back once their contracts expire. But almost every migrant dreams of a permanent residence in the city,” says Mubashir Zaidi, a builder.

Most residents of city slums like Sajjad Azhar are migrants. Almost 80 per cent of those who live there, work in construction, loading and unloading activities, garments and small industries.

In the marble-cutting industry, around 30 per cent of the 800-odd workers are migrants. Sajjad Azhar from Sahiwal does a hard labor. Needless to say, most accidents among them go unreported. Being able to maintain roots while pursuing opportunities is the privilege of elite migrants only.