Javed Hussain writes about the political and social changes that affect lives and livelihoods of peasants in Sindh
Human rights groups have acted with the support of the local courts to ensure the freedom of 188 more individuals enslaved by brick kiln owners in Sindh. The courts, however, did not press any charges against the kiln owners.
A note on the continuing struggle of bonded laourers, their release and rehabilitation continues and they have now begun to ask for justice. Yet much remains to be done. Note based on filings by GRDO, Hyderabad, Sindh.
The recent events of bonded workers in Sindh present the unwillingness of Pakistani administration to recognize the plight of slave labor and provide justice to them.
A peasants' conference was organized in Sindh to focus on the problems of bonded labour.
While this is not a complete description of Bhavnagar, it is a description of certain poor sections of the city, that depend significantly on recycling and extracting components from the ‘trash’ that comes out of the ship building industry in Alang. A report from a visit to child rights work in Bhavnagar.
A law was passed banning the employment of children as domestic servants or servants or in dhabas (roadside eateries), restaurants, hotels, motels, teashops, resorts, spas or in other recreational centers, effective from 10 October 2006.
When we think of India, we do not think of slaves – imprisoned in small enclosures behind barbed wires, made to work long hours for minimal food, kept in conditions that would make animals ill.
And if we were told that such situations exist in India, we would probably consider Bihar, maybe UP or Rajasthan. But certainly not Tamil Nadu?
Chandar Kolhi alias Javed Shaikh was recently rescued from bonded labour by rights activists in district Thatta Sindh. He was bonded by a landlord named Luqman Palari for Rs. 200 (about 3 US $). He worked for two years without any payment.
While the cases filed against Guriya have not been resolved fully, on sunday(13/11/05) Guriya activists worked with the police to rescue of six more minor girls. Ajeet and Manju also accompanied the police to the rescue point.
Over a million slave laborers in Pakistan have been dehumanized, oppressed and denied basic rights by a vicious coalition of feudal landlords (zamindars), a military regime and political interests. One local group trying to rescue them and help with rehabilitation has decided to provide some faces to these numbers.
Highlighting the bonded labor issue Green Rural Development Organization had planned a 12 day (1st March to 12th March 2005) long march from Jhudo to Hyderabad Press club. A gathering of more than 20,000 people from different districts of Sindh, Pakistan joined in the final phase of long march from Fateh Chowk to press club Hyderabad. This article highlights the activities of the marchers from 7th March to 12th March.
GRDO, an organization that has been working for rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Sindh, after having rescued over 30000 slaves, now talks about their rehabilitation plans and calls for additional support.
Highlighting the bonded labor issue Green Rural Development Organization had planned a 12 day (1st March to 12th March 2005) long march from Jhudo to Hyderabad Press club. A gathering of more than 20,000 people from different districts of Sindh, Pakistan joined in the final phase of long march from Fateh Chowk to press club Hyderabad.
This article highlights the activities of the marchers from 1st March to 6th March.
According to Agriculture survey of Pakistan and (International Labour Organization) ILO’s World labour report there are approximately 1.7 million bonded labourers in Pakistan. While bonded labour is present in several different sectors, it is especially bad in the agricultural sector. Pakistan is also amongst the list of countries where there is the worst form of bonded labour. Several export contracts of agricultural products are cancelled due to bonded labour in Pakistan.
10 million of 27 million slaves of the modern world live in India. A short film based on the story of the slaves of Sonbarsa, Uttar Pradesh inspires hope.
On 11th August, a peoples assembly on the issues and problems of rural workers was organized by Green Rural Development Organization(GRDO)in Hyderabad, Sindh.
Shanta Sinha gives out a call for a National Campaign to amend Child Labour Act for complete elimination of child labour in India.
Dr. Syed Ali Wasif reviews violence against children and child labor in various forms prevalent in Pakistan.
June 12th, 2005 is World Day against Child Labour, with this year's focus being on children working in mines and quarries.
We demand that the Government of India take the following steps immediately to get children out of mines and back into safe, nurturing environments
In Pakistan, a large section of the bonded labor actually lives in private prisons owned and operated by large landlords. Lalee was once such slave. Lalee and her family – including six children – had recently been freed from a private prison owned by a landlord in Sindh, owing to the efforts of advocacy groups working on slave labor.
India has completed 50 years of Independence. Today, the country has an estimated 70-80 million child labourers. In other words, there are 70-80 million children prematurely leading adult lives.
There are roughly a million landless waged labourers in Nepal. A significant fraction of them work as permanent labourers under a wide varieties of terms and conditions
In addition to domestic laws, India is a party to numerous international human rights conventions and is thus legally bound by them. An extensive review is presented by the Human Rights Watch report on bonded labor in India.
Despite strong laws, there has been negligible enforcement. The bureaucratic machinery and the political leadership of India are responsible for India having the largest bonded child labor population.
A review of the domestic laws in India that protect children against bonded labor and the strength of those laws. The Human Rights Watch report provides extensive review of these laws.
Have we, as consumers, ever stopped to wonder where the trinkets, ornaments, decorative pieces that we buy, the very clothes that we wear and the cuppa tea that starts our day, come from?
There is no one way in which children are bonded, no one story that includes the pain, the suffering and the exploitation. Each community, each family that is tied to bonded labor has its own problems.