KARACHI: A large number of heirs of the victims of the Ali Enterprises Baldia factory fire, social activists and members of the civil society gathered outside the burnt factory on Sunday to observe the 11th anniversary of the tragedy where as many as 260 workers were burnt alive while 60 workers were injured on September 11, 2012.

They were all of the view that incidents of industrial mishaps were rising sharply in the country as the government and industrialists seemed to have learnt no lesson from the Baldia factory fire tragedy.

They also paid homage to labour leader late Saeeda Khatoon, the mother of a worker at the factory, who herself passed away last year while fighting for the rights of the affected families of victims of the Baldia factory fire.

Those spoke on the occasion included Nasir Mansoor, Rafique Baloch and Riaz Abbasi of the National Trade Union Federation, Gul Rehman of the Workers’ Rights Movement, Zehra Khan and Saira Froze of Home-Based Women Workers Federation, Husna Khatoon, Mohammed Siddique, Mohammed Jamil and Shaukat of the Association of the Affectees of Baldia Factory Fire, Karamat Ali of Pakistan Labour Education and Research, Asad Iqbal But and Qazi Khizar of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Habibuddin

Victim families remember their loved ones on the eve of 11th anniversary of tragedy

Junaidi of Peoples Labour Bureau, Saeed Baloch of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Comrade Wahid Baloch, Farhat Parveen of Now Communities, Bushra Arain of Lady Health Workers, among others.

The speakers aired their disappointment about the investigation of the Baldia factory fire being marred by political and ethnic controversies as a result of which the culprits behind the tragedy were roaming around freely. Some powerful elements used the so-called joint investigation team (JIT) to save the killers. The findings of this JIT were far from reality, they said.

They said that the labour movement and the heirs of the late workers for the last 11 years had been saying that irrespective of whether the fire was accidental or deliberate, the cause of the death of workers was the closed main exit gates, the closed windows with heavy iron bars, faulty fire extinguishers and lack of training to workers about using the firefighting equipment in the building.

Moreover, the building structure of the factory was illegal, there was a boiler inside the factory and there were no emergency fire alarms installed anywhere.

It all points to criminal negligence of the factory owners coupled with violation of labour laws, they said.

They all vowed to continue their struggle for the rights of workers and their families till they get justice.

It was explained that recently, in Germany and Holland, they had passed a law of Due Diligence under which the companies would be held responsible for any illegal act in the other countries where they had get their orders made and also where they sell their products.

They also enlightened about the ‘Pakistan Accord’, a historic agreement, which would help improve the health and safety standards in more than 700 big and small textile and garment factories in Pakistan to help more than seven hundred thousand workers here.

More than 70 well-known international brands have become a part of this accord, which is a good omen. Sadly, still some international fashion brands are out of this accord. It is necessary that they also realise their responsibility and join the accord. The labour organisations of Pakistan welcome this accord and demand to further widen its scope so that the deaths and injuries of workers at workplaces could be prevented.

Representatives of heirs of the affected workers pointed out that the German brand KIK had paid 6.1 million dollars as a long-term compensation under an international agreement and for investment of this amount and to settle the related issues in Pakistan an oversight committee was formed compromised of the heirs, workers, the government of Sindh and the representatives of the ILO. Sadly, the ILO without taking the representatives of heirs and workers in confidence invested the funds provided by the German brand in an insurance company without providing any information about how much amount was given to that insurance company.

Despite the repeated demands of the representatives of the heirs and workers, the ILO office in Karachi has refused to share the documents about the agreement with the insurance company. However, the ILO for unknown reasons disbanded the oversight committee, due to which the affected workers are facing immense problems in getting their issues resolved, the speakers said.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2023