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Iqbal masih quotes Continue In the mid-1990s, bright young people made a global impact on child slavery. Iqbal Masih's life was cut short only by a shy 13 years, but his powerful and eloquent speech encouraged thousands of bonded workers and child slaves to follow his example. It instills awareness and encourages education so that others can assert their rights and end injustice in sweatshops around the world. In 1983, Iqbal Masih was born in the impoverished community of Muridke outside Lahore, Pakistan. His family was financially burdened, and his father Saif Masih decided to leave when Iqbal was young. When he was 4 years old, Inaat's mother needed funds to pay for his older brother's wedding. Since the family was already in debt, she took a loan in Iqbal's name from a local businessman. However, when their debt became unpaid within two years, she was forced to loan Iqbal as a worker to pay off the debt. Iqbal became one of the many children's support workers in the carpet factory. Despite 14 hours six days a week, Iqbal never made enough money to pay off the debt, the cost of his apprenticeship, his tools, his meals, fines for his mistakes or growing interest. Although considered debt-bond he was indeed like millions of other children who were enslaved by their employers without hoping to earn their freedom. Kaba labour, child labour and slave labour were banned in Pakistan. However, he ran rampant because of the corrupt government and the police that lived off the bribes of local businessmen. Children should have pens in their hands, not tools - Iqbal Masih When Iqbal was 10 years old, he decided to run. He endured hot, cramped conditions, air filled with woolen debris and countless floggings, beatings and cuttings whenever his work slowed down. Although he was slowed down by malnutrition and weakened by his lack of exercise, Iqbal and several of his friends escaped. He ran to the local police and explained how the employer had beaten the children and kept them as slaves. Unfortunately, the policeman was more willing to receive a search fee for the escaped slaves and returned Iqbal Arshada, the owner of Iqbal. At the direction of the policeman, Iqbal was chained to a carpeted car, and Arshad forced him to return to work with a combination of physical violence and starvation. At the age of 12, Iqbal found a way to take part in the Freedom Day celebrations held by brickwork unions. There, Iqbal heard about his rights as a worker and that debt slavery was outlawed several years ago. In addition to the anti-slavery law, the government has cancelled all debts with businesses so they can, in turn, release those who are indebted to them. However, very few businesses have actually freed their slaves. When others were asked in front of the crowd, Iqbal volunteered. Hearing Iqbal's story, one of the leaders named Ehsan Ullah Khan organized an attempt to free Iqbal from slavery. After much persuasiveness about the illegality of his plant, Arshad freed Iqbal and some other child slaves. Iqbal, 12, has become a prominent leader of the anti-slavery movement in Pakistan. He attended the Labour Liberation Front School (BLLF) for former child slaves and quickly completed his four-year education in just two years. As his understanding of labour law and human rights grew, he began to use his energetic personality to speak on behalf of enslaved workers. He sneaks into the factories and begins to ask the children about their experiences and whether they were slaves. Although it was an incredibly risky job, his malnourished body and slowing growth forced him to appear to be only about six years old, so he is rarely perceived as a threat. BLLF sent him to speak at factories and demonstrations across Pakistan, where slavery is known to exist. With his powerful personality, he raised the slavers and encouraged them to flee. Despite death threats from the organized business mafia that dominated the communities, Iqbal continued to speak out confidently and eloquence against their practices. It is estimated that more than 3,000 Pakistani children have escaped from their owners after attending rallies, hearing speeches and attending meetings held by the BLF this year. Because of his powerful history, Iqbal Masih began to visit other countries, raising awareness of child slaves and defending their freedom. Wherever he went, he inspired others (especially children) to participate in a mission to end child slavery. I wanted to do what Abraham Lincoln did... I would like to do so in Pakistan -Iqbal Masih After a visit to speak in the United States in December 1994, Iqbal returned home to Pakistan. He would spend his last few months of life attending school in the hope of becoming a lawyer to fight on behalf of the pub workers. On Palm Sunday (16 April 1995), Iqbal was shot in the back with a 12-gauge shotgun. He rode home on his bike with friends after attending Mass earlier in the day. The official police report states that it was an accidental shooting by a local farmer named Ashraf Hero. They claimed that he confessed to the accident after several hours of torture. Because Iqbal was a prominent enemy of the local carpet mafia, the Pakistan Human Rights Commission examined the killing but quickly accepted the police history. Despite the official report, most all believe that Iqbal Masih was killed by a mafia agent of a carpet manufacturer who had already occupied influence over the police, and that Ashraf Hero was a setup for the murder. Iqbal Masih is our hero because he took bold action on behalf of child slaves and bonded workers in Pakistan and World. Despite his short life, his passionate and powerful message encouraged thousands of people to seek freedom and inspired many people around the world to join his efforts. There are still about 75,000 slaves in Pakistan today. One organization, Free Kids, was founded by a Canadian young man named Craig Kilburger, who had heard about Iqbal's history and wanted to help make a Iqbal Masih meets BMM activist Ehsan Ulla Khan in Sheikhupur (1992)Born1983Murdke, Punjab, PakistanDied16 April 1995 (1995-04-16) (age 11-12)Muridke, Punjab, PakistanNationalismPakistaniOrganizationBandhua Mukti MorchaKnown forAbolitionismاﻗﺒﺎل ﻣﺴﯿﺢdifference. Iqbal Masih was a Pakistani Christian boy who became a symbol of the brutal child labor in Pakistan. Ikbal Masih's biography was born in 1983 in Muridka, a commercial town outside Lahore in Punjab, Pakistan, into a poor Christian family. At the age of four, his family (اﻗﺒﺎل ﻣﺴﯿﺢ :Iqbal Masih (Urdu sent him to work to pay off their debts. Iqbal's family borrowed 600 rupees (less than $12.00) from a local employer who owned a weaving business. In turn, Iqbal had to work as a carpet weaver until the debt was paid. Every day, he would walk around before dawn and walk through a dark soaked soak to the factory, where he and most other children were tightly bound by chains to the carpet to prevent the escape. Iqbal knew that his debt would not be paid anytime soon, and one day could not accept it any more. He tore one of the carpets and got into serious trouble with the owner of the home factory Hussain Khan. Escape and Activism At the age of 10, Iqbal escaped slavery after learning that bonded labor had been declared illegal by Pakistan's Supreme Court. He ran away and then went to the police to report Arshad, but police returned him to Arshad, who told police to tie him upside down if he ran away again. Iqbal escaped for the second time, and he attended the Labour Liberation Front School (BLF) for former child slaves and quickly completed his four-year education in just two years. Iqbal helped more than 3,000 Pakistani children who were in bonded work, escape to freedom and gave speeches about child labor around the world. He expressed a desire to become a lawyer to better prepare him for free visiting labors, and he began visiting other countries, including Sweden and the United States, to share his story, urging others to join the fight to eradicate child slavery. In 1994, he received the Reebok Human Rights Award in Boston and said in a speech: I am one of the millions of children who suffer in Pakistan from Kab labor and child labor, but I am lucky that thanks to the efforts of the Labor Liberation Front (BLLF), I am released, I stand before After my freedom, I entered BLLF school and I am studying at this school now. For us slave owners, Ehsan Ullah Khan and BLLF did the same work that Abraham Lincoln did for the slaves of America. Today you are free, and I am free too. The death of Iqbal Masih, a brave and eloquent boy who attended several international conferences to denounce the hardships of weaver children in Pakistan, was shot with a shotgun while he and some friends ride a bike in their village of Murinka, near Lahore. Iqbal was fatally shot by a carpet mafia during a visit to relatives in Murinka, Pakistan, on April 16, 1995, on Easter Sunday. He was 12 years old at the time. His mother said she did not believe her son was the victim of a conspiracy by the carpet mafia. However, the Bonded Labor Liberation Front disagreed, as Iqbal had received death threats from people associated with the Pakistani carpet industry. About 800 mourners attended his funeral.

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