Author: Muzaffer Hussain
Publication: Mumbai Tarun Bharat
(Marathi daily)
Date: May 23, 2003
Bangladesh is one of the top countries
which caters to the need of world of manual labourers. The work which an
Indian or Pakistani worker will not do for Rs.100/-, is done by a Bangladeshi
worker for Rs. 30 or 40/-. Hence, from the Gulf to the Western countries,
Bangladeshi worker is the cheapest. Some days back, 4,500 prostitutes
had gone from Pakistan to Iraq and among them the number of Bangladeshi
prostitutes was the highest. Rich people in the Gulf arrange Camel Races.
For them, Bangladeshi children are mostly used. These children are tied
on the back of the camels with ropes Because of the pains caused
to them during the race, these children scream extremely. The camels start
running with a greater speed due to their screams. Half of the children
on the camels die because of the fear or are seriously hurt. Their
end is very heart-rending. For camel races, every year about 700 children
are imported on an average.
At the time of creation of Bangladesh,
there were 2 crores of Bangladeshis living in Pakistan. Many of them
left after Bangladesh got freedom. Still there are about 1.25 crores
Bangladeshis living in Pakistan illegally. Every year about 20,000 Bangladeshis
go to Pakistan. Of course their entry is illegal. Some illegal agencies
in Karachi and Rawalpindi bring these Bangladeshis quietly. Some days back,
a gang bringing these people via Sea route was caught at Chitgaon. First,
Bangladeshis enter India and enter Pakistan from Bihar, U.P. Punjab or
Rajasthan borders. They include children, women and people from all age-groups.
The unemployment problem in Bangladesh is so severe that the parents are
willing to sell their children. Unemployment in Pakistan is also
not less. In Pakistan., according to some people, unemployment is 17%.
Those who are educated, enter Western countries by bribing. For a visa
in Western country, Rs.40 lakhs have to be paid. But nobody touches Pakistani
rupee. All transactions are in US dollars.
Question arises, if there is unemployment
in Pakistan, what these Bangladeshis do there? The truth is the few rich
people in Pakistan need these people for house work or work on farms. In
Sindh and Punjab, tradition of Jamindars is still in existence. It
is nothing if some of them have lands to the extent of more than 100 acres.
Gulam Mustafa Jitoi who was the Prime Minister during the time of General
Zia, has so much land that for a railway to pass over his land takes 6
hours. In Sindh, these Jamindars are called 'Woodera'. The workers
working for them are called 'Haari'. Hindu workers were working for these
Jamindars in Singh right from the first. But since Hindus are being
converted speedily, the number of Hindu workers is diminishing very fast.
These Wooderas tie up their workers in chains and get all sorts of work
done by them. They are imprisoned in a room and in the morning they are
again brought to the work. Poor bread is thrown to them. their
wives and children are also the slaves of the owner. Young women
are always prey to rapes and even the children are used to satisfy their
desires.
Now Bangladeshis are used for doing
all these dirty jobs. The illegal agencies operating in Pakistan and Bangladesh
are very prompt in satisfying such demands. The rate is 50,000 Taka
(about Rs.25,000/-) for a young woman, 70,000 Taka for men and 30,000 Taka
for a child. Children are in high demand because firstly, they can work
for more years and their efficiency is also more. In the Clifton
area of Karachi alone, there are about 7,000 Bengali children working for
households.
In India, Child labour is highest
in Bihar. Children from it are sent to large cities for work. In
Delhi, one finds Assamese children whereas in Calcutta and Mumbai, Bihari
children are more. In Pakistan it is said, just as the owner's soul is
locked with his wife, the wife's soul is locked in her servant. Without
servants, their life is incomplete and full of toils. In Pakistan, Bangladeshi
servants are found in the wealthy families. All cleaning, cooking
and any other work is to be done by them. Their day starts at 5 a.m.
But if some children have to go to the school or colleges, their day will
start at 4 a.m. No time limit for ending the day's work is fixed. When
all members of the family go to sleep, then only their work gets over.
When they throw their tired bodies on a torn chaddar somewhere in a corner
of the kitchen, they are sound asleep as if they are dead.
Throughout the day, they have also
to endure abuses and thrashing. In exchange, they get food two times and
cloth just sufficient to cover the body. They cannot send any money to
their parents if they wish. Since they themselves are living in Pakistan
illegally, they are threatened that if they do something like that, Police
will arrest them. If any servant insists on doing so, he is immediately
handed over to the Police as an illegal citizen. The poor servant
goes from one prison to another.
With the fear that some friend or
a neighbour will 'eye' their Bangladeshi servant, whenever there are guests
in the house, these servants are not allowed in their presence. In cities
like Karachi, Rawalpindi, Shikarpur, Sindh, Hyderabad, Lahore and Siyalkot,
kidnapping of servants is always taking place. As nobody can afford to
lose his trained servants, they are hidden from the eyesight of others.
The government of Bangladesh is
aware of all this. They have written reports about the atrocities done
in Pakistan on their citizens. Yet, Government of Bangladesh does not do
a thing. Because, it does not have the capacity to feed these starved people.
If the treatment given to Bangladeshi servants in Pakistan is witnessed
by the Human Rights Commissions, they will be shocked. These Bangladeshi
servants arrive in Pakistani prisons alive, but their release from
it is definite only after their death. The Human Rights Commission in Pakistan
is silent on this matter. Because of the cheap labour, the number of Bangladeshi
workers is increasing day by day. Looking at them, one remembers the days
of the horrible slavery in human history.
