One can easily argue the ills of the unregulated social media and its propensity to disseminate unverified information. It is an uncontrollable genie for the most part and like it or not, it is here to stay. Where it is a “wild wild west” for the most part, but it has some really strong positives, which often get overlooked, ignored or down played. With the power of a smart phone, almost everyone has the ability to act as a “good Samaritan” or a responsible citizen by highlighting the ills of the society. Take a snap or snaps for that matter and immediately post it at your favorite social media portal. If your post catches the eyes and the attention of your group, often called the conscience, chances are that it will go viral and promptly picked by main stream media. In the midst of lingering despair, even if one person truly benefits from this phenomenon, then it is priceless, with all its apparent negatives.
A recent incident of a minor child, who was physically abused by her employers in the federal capital, caught every one’s attention. Of course it is extremely horrific and being a parent of an eleven-year-old myself, it gave me chills and shudders down my spine. Thanks to the vigilant social media, that highlighted the atrocity and the mainstream media took that baton forward. The discussions and debates about child protection laws, minor workers used as a pledge and child labor started. Some politicos weighed in with their two cents bit on this rather “non issue” for them. After all the endless rants, sound bites, opinions and analyses on the nation’s life and death, called “Panama Gate” has to get its due and their undivided attention.
Some gave their defense that how in their province the child labor laws are strictly implemented, I read this too on Twitter, that a politico has offered to help the affected child and bear her expenses, which is very noble. The apex court took notice of the situation and that too is remarkable. Again, courtesy social media, if a person will get some relief, some redress more power to such activism. However, with the strictest and harshest laws on the book, without proper implementation, this issue will not vanish.
Come to think of it, the issue is not the law or laws, the real issue here is the medieval attitude. The idea that a household has to have “domestic help” is fine, provided, there are certain minimum standards mandated by the state for any such help. At the end of the day, it is labor and it should have the age requirement of adulthood, ability to enter into an employment agreement and the job functions, clearly spelt out in writing.
Employment of minors and especially destitute may be criminal on our books, but above all it is immoral. The prevalent justification is that, it is a sort of “help”, for such families as it gives them the ability to survive. Quite frankly, it is treated and exercised as modern day “slavery.” Such domestic help is treated with utter disrespect and at times physically abused without any regret or remorse.
The thrust of the matter is utter disregard and lets bluntly say the dignity of labor. Generally speaking, our people will give you long lectures about religion, the Holy Prophet PBUH, the month of fasting, pilgrimage, interest, corruption, bribery, you get the picture. But when it comes to dignity of labor, somehow this concept is totally alien to us. Our primitive culture trumps our clear thinking, and above all it hurts our pocket books.
I can assure you that any such heinous act is highly unlikely in this country, where I presently live and most other western societies. The overarching principle is that any laborer is owed an agreed upon fair compensation by the hour with state and federal mandates of overtime after eight hours of work. Most domestic help charges by the hour here and people are compelled by sheer economics to maintain a lifestyle which they can afford.
Even if it means spending weekends on cleaning the bathrooms and kitchens, or mowing the lawns and vacuuming the carpets. No one is arguing that everything is perfect here. The law takes its course on reported incidents quite promptly and fairly. Post 1960’s and the civil rights movement, despite the much talked about Black and White divide, the concept of slavery is done for good. Very unfortunately, this concept is fairly prevalent in our country and most Muslim countries. I am not an anthropologist, but my wild guess is that our attitudes and our general culture are still stuck in the medieval times. The great social scientists would perhaps argue that there is a strong correlation between attitudes and the pockets. Until or unless this stinking attitude goes away, chances are that you will the rampant indignity towards labor continue unabated.
The writer is a Pakistani-US mortgage banker. He can be reached at [email protected]. He tweets at http://twitter.com/dasghar