A Historic Judgement for Child Domestic Labor – Tayyaba in Worst Forms of Child Labor in Pakistan!
Today June 12 World Day Against Child Labor in Pakistan. It must be celebrated with the Landmark 46 page Judgement in Tayyaba’s case – the tragic story of Child Domestic Labor in Pakistan that continues to be off the list of Worst Forms of Child Labor in all laws across Pakistan – I wish the judgement had also cited reference to why Pakistan is violating ILO Convention 182 to which it is a signatory on ending Worst Forms of Child Labor.. But delighted to see after my sit in at one of the hearings that the Honorable Judges of the HC’s division bench Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Minagul Hassan Aurangzeb dismissed the former Additional District & Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Raja Khurram Ali Khan and his wife Maheen Zafar’s application challenging conviction and sentence. Instead, the division bench has enhanced the sentence from one year to three years..Superb judgement – that needs to become a much cited reference and compulsory read for students /researchers on child labor and child domestic labor . Wake up Govt of Pakistan and its caretakers – provide relief to our Children Please! There will be no solution until the Govt. also implements Right to Education a fundamental constitutional provision for All children 5-16 years of age under 25 A and provincial /areas laws. Why is the obvious so elusive? Why-STOP genocide of our children by denying them education /learning and pushing them into child labor and its worst forms!
Parents, Society and State are all in collusion against our Tayyabas .. yes ALL .. Let us begin a BISP social safety net – a conditional cash transfer to the poorest to stop child labor- Waseela -e-Tahhafuz -e-Itfaal or something – Why Not!
Our amazing human rights and legal heroes for the Tayyaba case Tahira Abdullah, Adv. Wajahat Ali and Mr. R. Y. Karim kudos to them- saluting them all 10,000 times! Thank you for your actions!
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1732636/1-tayyaba-torture-case-court-increases-sentence-judge-wife-three-years/
ILO’s statement for today says “No child under the age of 18 should perform hazardous work as stipulated in the ILO’s Conventions on child labour, namely the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) . They require governments, in consultation with the social partners, to establish and enforce a national list of hazardous work prohibited for children. Ratification of these Conventions by 171 and 181 ILO member States respectively – close to universal ratification – reflects a commitment to end child labour in all its forms. It is time to step up action”. Will Pakistan stand by its commitments to children? Will we have a compassionate society that grants mercy to its children from torture and tyranny of the worst kind?
Baela Raza Jamil
CEO ITA Commissioner – Education Commission
Baela.jamil@itacec.org
