Iqbal Masih

Pakistan | Child Labor | Activist | 20 drawing hours

Iqbal Masih was a child laborer and activist from Pakistan.

He was sold by his father to labor 4 years for debt payment to a carpet factory. Iqbal was chained to a loom and made to work as much as 14 hours a day. He was fed little and beaten, more than other children because of his attempts at escaping and refusal to work. These conditions stunted his growth; he had the height and weight of a 6-year-old when he was 12.

He escaped from the carpet factory at the age of 10, only to be brought back by police for a finder’s fee.

He escaped a 2nd time and helped over 3,000 Pakistani children escape. In 1994, Iqbal spoke to 7th graders about his life in Massachusetts.

At 12 Iqbal was assassinated. Iqbal was posthumously given Pakistan’s award for bravery in 2022.

According to Georgetown University Professor Christine Fair, "Large numbers of Christians in the Punjab and Sindh, in particular, are trapped in bonded labour or slavery in work like brick kilns and carpet-weaving. Around 80% of brick kiln workers in some areas are Christians working to pay off family debts long since paid in absolute terms, yet who are illiterate and remain powerless to do anything about their circumstances."