Syeda Ghulam Fatima and Her Fight Against Bonded Labor

Short biographies of activists from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India

 South Asian Activists

Antique paper texture

Syeda Ghulam Fatima was born in Pakistan. She attended Punjab University in Pakistan, and has spent the last 40 years of her life as a worker's rights activist, battling bonded labor.

The simplest way to describe a loan is one person lending money to another person. After a certain amount of time, the person who borrowed the money must pay back the person who gave them the money.

For example, if your friend lets you borrow $10 to buy lunch, you must pay them back in a reasonable amount of time.

Click <a href="https://youtu.be/QwNNyTzPYhI">here</a> to view a short video explaining how loans work.

However, when you borrow money from a bank or a professional lender, they are not as nice as your friend who just makes you pay back the $10 you borrowed...

"Interest" is a tool lenders use to make money off of their loans. Instead of letting someone borrow $10 and only making them pay $10 back, a lender may put a "10% interest rate" on the loan. Since 10% of $10 is $1, the borrower now owes the lender $11.

Lenders and borrowers also agree on a time period the loan must be paid back in. If the borrower cannot pay back the lender the amount they borrowed plus the interest, then they "default" on the loan and the lender has the right to take something from the borrower. The lender can take something that is agreed on at the time of the loan, and this 'thing' they can take is known as "collateral".

When the loans become too expensive and the borrowers are unable to pay them back, they are forced to work to pay off their debt.

The work is often hard labor at brick kilns, which includes long days in the sun carrying heavy loads.

<a href="https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/pakistan/10382.pdf">https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/pakistan/10382.pdf</a> <a href="https://www.bllfpk.com/">https://www.bllfpk.com/</a> <a href="https://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/126765531151/i-want-to-conclude-the-pakistan-series-by">https://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/126765531151/i-want-to-conclude-the-pakistan-series-by</a> <a href="https://www.homegirlproject.org/post/interview-the-founder-of-bonded-labour-liberation-front-in-her-own-words">https://www.homegirlproject.org/post/interview-the-founder-of-bonded-labour-liberation-front-in-her-own-words</a> <a href="http://www.tipheroes.org/syeda-ghulam-fatima/">http://www.tipheroes.org/syeda-ghulam-fatima/</a> <a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/964130/syeda-ghulam-fatima-honoured-with-global-citizen-award">https://tribune.com.pk/story/964130/syeda-ghulam-fatima-honoured-with-global-citizen-award</a> <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/19/asia/pakistan-humans-new-york-bonded-labor/index.html">https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/19/asia/pakistan-humans-new-york-bonded-labor/index.html</a>

In September of 2015, Syeda Ghulam Fatima was the recipient of the Clinton Global Citizen Award for Leadership in Civil Society.

In 2016, she was honored with the TIP Hero Award by the U.S. Department of State.

Syeda was elected General Secretary of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front (BLLF) in Pakistan. She and her husband work out of a small office to help free bonded laborers.

Through their office, Syeda and her husband use many strategies to help free these workers. Between organizing awareness campaigns to educate bonded laborers of their legal rights, meeting with the owners of the brick kilns and politicians to legally release these workers, and working to empower recently freed bonded laborers, Syeda is constantly working on the behalf of others.

These bonded laborers can be trapped in the system for their entire lives. Today, there are over 2.6 million people working these extremely difficult jobs for no pay.

Syeda Ghulam Fatima has made it her life mission to free as many bonded laborers as possible. So far, she has freed over 80,000 people from bonded labor.

The best way you can help support the fight against bonded labor is by spreading awareness and continuing to learn about the issue.

You can stay up to date with news on the Bonded Labour Liberation Front by visiting their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bllfpk/">facebook page.</a>

Currently, there are no financial campaigns raising money for bonded labor in South Asia. In 2015, a "gofundme" campaign created after "Humans of New York" released a feature on Syeda Ghulam Fatima raised $2.3 million for the BLLF and the fight against bonded labor. You can read the story <a href="https://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/126765531151/i-want-to-conclude-the-pakistan-series-by">here</a>.

"All humans are equal before the law and should be treated equally in all respects without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, religion or economic status." - Syeda Ghulam Fatima

In many South Asian countries, such as Pakistan, poor people are often offered small "loans" to help them.

Most of the people who accept these loans do not understand the "terms" or price for paying back the money.

This book was created in a South Asian Politics course taught by Professor Nandini Deo (ndd208@lehigh.edu) at Lehigh University. While creating the book, I attempted to contact both Syeda Ghulam Fatima and the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, but received no response.

Once Syeda and the BLLF helps set the bonded laborers free, their work is not done. They provide protection, shelter, legal aid, and education to the freed workers to help them live a better life and remain free.

Although Syeda Ghulam Fatima has been violently attacked and received countless threats due to her activism, she has not slowed down one bit.

Today, Syeda continues to fight and represent bonded laborers. She serves as a voice for 2.6 million bonded laborers in South Asia. She also runs programs to educate women in Pakistan, so that they do not fall victim to accepting unfair loans that will leave them trapped in bonded labor.

In Pakistan, many money lenders take advantage of uneducated and poor people who can't get loans from banks. People take the loans as they need the money, but what they do not realize is that the lenders put extremely high interest rates on these loans, making it impossible to pay them back. 

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