Jawad Ahmed to pay tribute to factory fire victims

Karachi
Renowned pop singer and musician Jawad Ahmad arrived in the city to pay tribute to those unfortunate souls who lost their lives in the Baldia Factory fire.

The singer asked the people to attend an event on December 31, at which he will perform, to support for those who perished in the deadly blaze. The musical event would be held at the Labour Square Ground in the SITE. He said that the tragic incident took place because most factories in Pakistan were not registered under the Labour Factories Act 1934, and therefore, the workers were not protected by the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institute (EOBI) and other social security institutions.

Ahmed expressed these views during a press briefing on Friday at a local hotel.

He said that often, workers did not have contracts of employment or ID cards and there was no arrangement made by factories for the safety and security of the workers. The singer said there was no sign of factory inspections and the relevant laws were simply not implemented. He said that workers were the ones who produced products for society, whether they were salaried employees, farmers, labourers or small enterprise workers.

He alleged that the current system was based on artificial, hypocritical, deceptive and instrumental relationships that exploit poor, vulnerable and helpless human beings. Ahmed said the event was organised by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) and various other partner labour organisations.

“We can all come together and ensure that incidents such as the Baldia factory fire do not occur again in the future. We will welcome movements that are dedicated to fighting for the rights of workers and labourers, so that every human being, every family and each child receives what is grown, manufactured and created in this world without discrimination,” he concluded.

Posted in: Karachi News