Last few days have been very difficult for the working class. A thread.
Yesterday, we went to Faisalabad to meet workers of Ibrahim Fibers. The company has fired over two thousand workers in the middle of a pandemic. The same group owns Allied bank. Workers are organizing a protest on 17th August in Faisalabad.
On Saturday, Brick kiln owners in Jhang refused to free families from bonded labour. Mohammad Shabbir, leader of Bhatta Mazdoor Union, intervened to rescue workers from captivity. However the bosses & district police attacked families to prevent them from leaving.
Beaconhouse school, one of the largest educational mafias in the country, fired a number of teachers and staff citing financial constraints. The owners are billionaires who have made a fortune out of our right to a decent education.
All these groups have given money to government's covid fund, Shaukat Khanum and various religious groups. Workers understand how charity here is a form of investment used to win goodwill among powerful actors to obtain benefits for private causes.
We also went to Pindi Bhattian last week where unemployment is rampant. Much like in the rest of the county, the water is poisonous.
People are facing unemployment & lack of access to social services like health & education.
This crisis of life itself shapes our context.
People are facing unemployment & lack of access to social services like health & education.
This crisis of life itself shapes our context.
Unfortunately theres too much discussion on rivalries b/w political parties, yet little discussion on the inhumane conditions which ppl are forced to live.
A successful movnt will not be led by one party against another. It will demand dignity of life against a corrupt system.
A successful movnt will not be led by one party against another. It will demand dignity of life against a corrupt system.
