Child Slavery Day is a day dedicated to raising awareness about child labour. A day that remembers the deed of a young man whose story deserves to be told. We are now talking about Day of child slavery: when is it, why is it celebrated and what is its origin.
There are many important events that we celebrate throughout the year, such as Valentine’s Day, but some of them are really important or should help us reconsider. It is the case of Child Slavery Day.
Child Slavery Day: When is it
The April 16 is the day designated by Unicef, for the celebration of Child Slavery Day. An event that was established on this day to commemorate Iqbal Masih’s deatha young man from Pakistan who died precisely for being the voice of denunciation about child labor.
Child Slavery Day: why it is celebrated
April 16 The whole world celebrates the World Day Against Child Slavery, in commemoration of Iqbal Masih and all the children who still today, like him, suffer from slavery or they are sold to become child laborers or husbands.
Thus, the date was chosen in memory of the murder of the young Pakistani, murdered at age 12 for having rebelled against his life of slavery.
In the world today, there 158 million children that they are forced to work, 73,000 in dangerous conditions; 1 million children work in mines or on construction sites and 9 million are enslaved.
Scandalous data that must be revealed, not only on days like today but on all days, in order to put an end to this problem that, although we often think that it is something that occurs only in the so-called “Third World”, the truth is that it is a global problem that we should be aware everybody.
Day of child slavery: what is its origin
«No child should be holding a work tool, never an offensive weapon. The only tools a child should have in hand to work are a pen and pencil. ”
these are the words and the fundamental thought of Iqbal Masihwho, at only 12 years old and after being murdered, became the symbol of the fight against child labor.
It we remember today, April 16, when the Day Against Child Slavery is celebrated around the world in the name of little Iqbal Masih who was killed because at the age of 12 he had become a uncomfortable voice of denunciation of the textile mafias of Pakistan. Sold at the age of 5 to a carpet manufacturer, Iqbal himself had been put to work with other children in a factory, deprived of all freedom, exploited, punished for every little mistake and beaten for every attempt at rebellion. The memory of his memory and his struggle is what originated the celebration of a day like this.
The story of Iqbal Masih
Iqbal Masih was born in 1983 and had four years when his father decided to sell him into slavery to a carpet manufacturer. For 12 dollars.
started then the beginning of an endless bondage: The interest on the “loan” obtained in exchange for the child’s work only increased the debt, so the child was never able to return to his family.
Beaten, scolded and chained to his loom, Iqbal began to work more than twelve hours a day. He was one of the many children who weave rugs in Pakistan; children whose little hands are skillful and quick in exchange for a ridiculous salary, which makes children not protest (or not let them protest) and can be punished more easily.
One day in 1992, Iqbal and other children sneak out of the carpet factory to attend the Freedom Day celebration organized by the Liberation of Enslaved Labor (BLLF). Perhaps for the first time, Iqbal learns of his rights and realizes how children like him live in conditions of slavery. He spontaneously decides to tell his story: his impromptu speech causes a sensation and in the following days is published by the local newspapers.
Iqbal also decides that he does not want to work in the factory again. and a BLLF attorney helps you prepare a “resignation” letter to present to your former boss. During the demonstration, Iqbal meets Eshan Ullah Khan, leader of the BLLF, the trade unionist who will represent his guide towards a new life in defense of the rights of the child. that’s when Iqbal begins to tell his story on television screens around the world, he becomes a symbol and spokesperson for the drama of working children at conferences, first in Asian countries, then in Stockholm and Boston:
“I’m not afraid of him anymore – He says referring to his boss- it is he who is afraid of me, of us, of our rebellion. “When I grow up I want to be a lawyer and fight so that children do not work too much.” At that moment, Iqbal returns to study without interrupting his commitment as a small trade unionist. He was going to be a lawyer.
But the history of their freedom is short. On April 16, 1995, Easter Sundayis shot at close range while cycling in his hometown Muridke, with his cousins Liaqat and Faryad. Two bursts of bullets take his life and Iqbal he collapses on the bike he was finally playing with.
“A Carpet Mob Plot”will tell ullah khan immediately after his assassination. Someone felt threatened by Iqbal’s activism, the police were charged with collusion with the killers. In fact, many details of that tragic Sunday remained unclear.
I was only 12 years old. And while his killers are free, the Pakistani journalist who broke the story has been charged with a felony: “damaging the nation’s foreign trade.”
with the prize $15,000 Reebok Youth in Action received in December 1994 in Boston, Iqbal wanted to build a school so slave children could start studying again and tragically, his death made him the symbol he is today.