Faryad can’t write, so later that night, he has to put his thumbprint at the bottom of a blank piece of paper. When the boys are halfway there, they hear two gunshot. That evening he joins his relatives Lyaqat and Faryad Masih, who are taking food to Lyaqat’s father who is watering his fields. On the morning of Easter Sunday, 16 April 1995, he takes the bus home to Muridke. And paying decent wages to adult workers instead would mean less profit for carpet manufacturers. It may become more difficult to sell Pakistani rugs abroad if child labor and debt slavery are talked about around the world. At home in Pakistan, some people get angry when they see that Iqbal tells his story on TV and in newspapers.
Iqbal is also ‘Person of the week’ at one of the USA’s largest TV companies. In December 1994, Iqbal flies to the USA, where he is given an awardīy the Reebok company for fighting for the rights of debt slave children.
Many newspapers write about him, and he is featured on lots of TV programmes. Iqbal tells school children about how life is for debt slave children in Pakistan. Iqbal’ story becomes known around the world and in October 1994, he visits Sweden. “Watch out or we’ll kill you too,” replies the carpet factory owner. “Shut up mister,” says Sobia, who has never dared to be rude to an adult before. A third carpet maker says to Iqbal’s little sister Sobia: “Your brother walks about like a judge in the streets when he comes home. He says he’ll kidnap her and Iqbal if Iqbal doesn’t return to work or pay off the debt that made him a debt slave. Another carpet maker threatens Iqbal’s mother. Then the other children will come back too.”īut Iqbal refuses. The first time he comes home to visit, Ghullah the owner of the carpet factory says: “You have to come back to work. In marches and meetings, Iqbal and other children protest against the use of bonded labour and demand change. Sometimes two days pass before he releases them again. He’s furious, and he beats the boys with a carpet fork or whatever is within reach. The next morning, Ghullah comes to their homes to get them. They play all day without worrying about what awaits them. Iqbal and his friends take the chance to run away when Ghullah isn’t there.
He starts to run away from work as often as he can. In that instant, Iqbal decides he’s had enough. “I’m the one who decides when you work,” roars Ghullah. Ghullah, the owner, ties the boy’s feet together and hangs him upside down from the ceiling fan. One day, a little boy in the carpet factory has a high fever. If Iqbal falls asleep at work, he is woken up by a blow from the carpet fork. The peshgi debt means that Iqbal has to go with Ghullah, who drags a sleepy Iqbal through the narrow streets to the carpet factory. Iqbal worked in a carpet factory similar to this one, where young boys and girls work from morning to noon.
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