Judical Action to end Bonded Labour - Human Rights Commission ...

Introduction
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The judiciary has played a most significant role in the efforts aimed at eliminating the
scourge of bonded labour that has been rampant in Pakistan for ages, the largest
concentration of bonded labourers being found in the brick-kiln industry and in agriculture.
The main features of bonded labour are that the whole family of a worker, including
old men, women and small children, renders services to a brick-kiln owner or landlord for
extremely low wages that are grossly inadequate for meeting its modest needs. Most of the
workers have no shelter of their own and are thus obliged to stay close to the place of work
in jhuggies on land provided by the employers, and this increases their dependence on brickkiln
owners or landlords. Since wages are low the workers are obliged to borrow money from
the employers to cover day-to-day expenses or to meet emergencies such as sickness,
death or marriage in the family. Brick-kiln workers also need loans during the rainy season
when brick-making is suspended for months on end. Although deductions for loans are
regularly made from the workersí wages, the amount of the loan, called Peshgi (advance
against wages), goes on increasing. A worker is not allowed to find another employment or
residence unless he clears his debt. This is the essence of bondage and attempts to escape
are foiled by force and the workers concerned can be harassed, beaten and tortured, often
with the help of the police. They can also be implicated in false criminal cases. Under this
vicious system women are doubly vulnerable. In addition to the exploitation of their labour
they are also subjected to sexual abuse. Another factor of the bonded labourersí vulnerability
is the fact that a vast majority of brick-kiln workers are Christians and in agriculture in Sindh
they mostly belong to the backward non-Muslim castes. 1
Since the system of peshgi/loans lies at the root of the plight of bonded labourers
they are often described as debt-slaves. Whatever the phrase used in this debate the use of
bonded labour is manifestly a slavery-like practice.
1. For an understanding of the bonded labour system, see the reports appended to the Supreme Court judgment in
Darshan Masih case below, the Survey of Bonded Labour by Ali Ercelwan and M. Nauman for Pakistan Institute of Labour
and Research, Bonded Labour in Agriculture by Ali Karim for Human Rights Watch, and ILO publications, especially the
Rapid Assessment Survey.
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