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A cry for justice
(2) HAVING lived in Saudi Arabia, we often hear such tales of misery and exploitation. But in all the stories the common factor is the unwillingness of the expatriate worker to stand up for his rights and take the employer to court. There are many ‘Amoudis’ in Saudi Arabia. Many who do not pay their employees for months at a time. There are employers who make their employees work seven days a week. Some make them work long hours without giving them any overtime. All this is against the Saudi law. But all this is perpetuated because there are many Tariqs, men who can easily take such employers to labour court which is free of cost, but they don’t because they fear that they might lose their jobs. My husband, when he came to Saudi Arabia as a young man like Tariq Khan, was not paid his salary for six months. He took his Saudi Sheikh to the court and won the case. My husband took the Sheikh to the labour court a second time, when the Sheikh refused to give him his annual vacation. The judge not only ruled in my husband’s favour, he also told the Sheikh not to indulge in retaliatory measures. He told my husband to report to him if that was the case. Every expatriate begged him not to take the Sheikh to court. They told him it would be like committing suicide that he would get fired and lose all his benefits. My husband worked for that Sheikh for another three years, after which he left the Kingdom on his own accord. I hate to think what the consequences would have been, had my husband not stood up for his rights and fought back. In Saudi Arabia it is the law that all employees have to be given time off and a ticket to their home country every two years. Had Tariq taken his cruel Sheikh to court, the inhuman act could have been nipped in the bud. The courts provide the person with a translator if their Arabic is not good enough. Also, Tariq by pleading guilty signed his own doom. I don’t know how he supposed that he could get out of jail, by pleading guilty to embezzlement of such large sums of money?. I have seen one case where an Indian employee is serving jail sentence for the past four years. He was also falsely accused of embezzlement. His Sheikh had made him sign a few blank papers on some pretext. The poor Indian’s family had to go back to India since they could not sustain themselves financially. The wife is now living with her two teenaged children, in her father’s house. Most people look at them with contempt believing that their father/husband was indeed a crook. After all, the Saudis are the custodian of the Ka’abah. I believe that any Pakistani who comes to work in the Middle East must learn to use their good senses that Allah has given them. Everyone knows that you must never sign a blank sheet of paper, you must never confess to a crime you have not committed. I think the Pakistan Embassy should issue some kind working guide for the expatriate workers. It should be mandatory for everyone to have. The embassies of Indonesia and the Philippines have done a great job in this regard. Their employees are harassed too, but they always fight back. I hope that Tariq is able to return to his home and get his health back. But even more I hope that the Amoudies of the Kingdom are taken to court every time they break the law. It was a sad story, unfortunately cruelty knows no bounds. SAMEEN KHAN | ||
WITH reference to the article A cry for justice, (September 14), a hard-working Pakistani worker, working apparently as a slave for a rich Arab for nearly a decade. However, it is unfortunate that these brutalities are not being reported for the first time. While being Muslims, we’ve great respect from the people of all Arab lands. Still it pains to read about the inhumane treatment meted to a fellow human being. The whole world is laughing at the behaviours of these rich Arab brothers in general and the Muslim Ummah in particular. Allah sent his last Prophet (peace be upon him) to these holy places to eliminate injustices and brutalities of the ignorant era. It is, therefore, an utter embarrassment for all Muslims if those atrocities of that ignorant era are repeated in 21st century in the Arab lands and by Arabs.|
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