Many poor and helpless kids toil and sweat for little livelihood, day after day, the whole year round from Karachi to KPK. And this is all the more ironic as May Day is ceremoniously commemorated as a public holiday nationwide and the world over. 

Poor kids labour for a living on May Day, the holiday, in the country’s streets and shops, in the form of street charmers, car cleaners, flower sellers, cart pushers, street vendors, etc., in Karachi’s Mithadar, Kharadar, Ranchor Line, Orangi, Korangi, Defence and Clifton.

Pitiful little ones struggle for peanuts as the world celebrates May Day, be they the puncturewala helpers of Gulberg or Chaburjee, Lahore; little chai walas in the back lanes of Jinnah Road, Quetta; helpers of plumbers, masons and electricians of Saddar Road, Nothia, Chowkyadgar, in Peshawar and so on.

If private-public partnership can design an able, noble, humble and gentle policy in replacing the stigma of child labour from our image as exploiters and prove us a country with child assets in sports and cottage industries, it will cost them very little to build a better and brighter Pakistan.

One of the greatest assets of Pakistan, well-known the world over, are our cute little labouring Sialkot kids’ magical fingers stitching the world’s best footballs for World Cup soccer, and sports goods for many international sports events, including cricket and hockey. They are a big foreign exchange earners for Pakistan!

Same is true of the magical fingers of our labouring little ones in the capacity of helpers, in our cottage industry, churning out carpets, textiles, embroidery, jewellery ceramics, cutlery, woodwork, quilt art, leather bags, hats, glass works, pottery, basketry, needle work, leather craft and metalwork as a boost to the national economy.

Though these minor maestros, who make Pakistan’s world go round in name, fame, dignity and honour, may be exploited by their pompous proprietors in practice, business ethics must be blended with the profit motive of the exploiting masters without labelling our little geniuses of arts and crafts with the stigma of child labour.

Let there be a harmonious blend of profiteering with national interest, caring of and sharing with our skilful children the fruits of their labour by creatively designing their work schedule with decent stipends, basic education in English, maths and general knowledge, and provisions for health and recreation.

It is child labour if these children’s promises and potentials are exploited only for enriching the financial coffers of industrialists and proprietors. It would not be child labour if small national and humanitarian concerns, without affecting profits, take on board our little workforce’s dignity of labour and personality development.

If private-public partnership can design an able, noble, humble and gentle policy in replacing the stigma of child labour from our image as exploiters and prove us a country with child assets in sports and cottage industries, it will cost them very little to build a better and brighter Pakistan. If there is a will, there is a way indeed.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 28th, 2018