Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 19, 1995 TAG: 9504200052
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN LENGTH: Medium
By age 12, he was free and traveling the world in his crusade against the horrors of child labor.
On Sunday, Iqbal was shot dead while he and two friends were riding their bikes in their village of Muritke, 22 miles outside the eastern city of Lahore. Some believe his murder was carried out by angry members of the carpet industry who had made repeated threats to silence the young activist.
``We know his death was a conspiracy by the carpet mafia,'' claimed Ehsan Ullah Khan, chairman of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front, a private group that fights against child labor in Pakistan.
Iqbal, a Christian, was home from school in Lahore for the Easter holiday.
A man known only as Ashraf, a laborer in Muritke, was arrested in connection with the shooting, but has been released, Khan said.
Rana Iqbal, deputy superintendent of police for the district, said Tuesday he was investigating the shooting but had no details.
The killing came only months after young Iqbal had attracted international attention. At a labor conference in Stockholm, Sweden, in November, he spoke about the horrible conditions faced by child workers, who toil for long hours in unsafe conditions and earn as little as 1 rupee - 3 cents - a day.
``We had to get up at 4 and work 12 hours,'' Iqbal told the conference, barely tall enough at the time to peer over the podium. ``We were chained to the looms, but after work we were usually released and could go home to sleep.''
When he was 10, Iqbal contacted the Bonded Labor Liberation Front and was able to escape the factory. He still owed his boss 13,000 rupees - the equivalent of $419 - a huge sum considering he earned only 1 rupee a day.
In December, Iqbal went to Boston to receive the Reebok Youth in Action Award from the American shoe company.
At the time, Iqbal said he wanted to become a lawyer and would use the $15,000 prize money for school. Brandeis University in suburban Boston gave him a standing offer of a full scholarship.
A world of opportunity had suddenly opened up for Iqbal, who had begun to attend school in Lahore and boasted he had turned the tables on his old boss.
``I'm not afraid of him any longer. Now he's afraid of me,'' Iqbal said in an interview shortly before the Reebok award ceremony.
But Iqbal received repeated death threats from people in the powerful carpet-weaving industry. The latest was received just two weeks ago, said Khan, who traveled with Iqbal to Boston.
Khan said Iqbal's campaign against child labor had led to the closure of dozens of carpet-weaving factories in his district.
``He was so brave ... you can't imagine,'' said Khan. ``He also has managed to free thousands of children.''
Pakistan has an estimated 6 million child workers age 14 or younger, according to the Human Rights Commission, an independent group. They labor in carpet factories, brick-making plants, on farms and as household servants.
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has vowed to fight child labor but her government has taken only limited action. It faces powerful industries who argue that the impoverished country needs their export earnings from carpets and other goods sold abroad.
Carpet-factory owners prefer children because their tiny fingers make the smallest, tightest knots, and hence the best carpets.
Iqbal's case was typical. His parents sold him to the carpet factory at age 4 for less than $16, and he spent his days bound to a carpet-weaving loom.
Khan recalled his first meeting with Iqbal. He was emaciated and wheezing like an old man, cowering in the corner of a meeting hall where Khan had gathered villagers to urge them to fight against forced labor.
``Iqbal was hiding himself, it was like he was trying to disappear. He was so frightened,'' recalled Khan. ``But, I felt there was something in this boy, that he had a strong will.''
by CNB