When 18-year-old Imran Ali and fellow garment workers assembled outside their factory gates on 11 October 2021 to protest against wages and working conditions, they were beaten and arrested.
Imran and his colleagues work at the Denim Clothing Company, a supplier in Karachi, Pakistan, for global fashion brands like H&M. They were protesting against the factory’s refusal to pay the government’s fixed minimum wage, inhumane working conditions, routine intimidation, lack of social security, and arbitrary dismissals since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two vans arrived on the scene, and three men in plain clothes started ruthlessly beating up the workers with sticks. Several were injured, and photographs of the aftermath show one worker with a dislocated elbow.
When interviewed about the incident later, Imran Ali explained that they weren’t police officers: they were civilians. “They were thrashing us while the police were letting them and began forcing us into the vans to take us to the police station.”
The workers were held at the police station for six hours, where they received further beatings from police. They were released only after they were forced to sign a document stating they would not protest against the company again.
“The management told workers that if any of them attend another protest, they will be removed from the face of the Earth and no one will ever find out,” said Yaseen Jhullal, the chief organiser of the Sindh Renaissance Labour Federation.
Workers who unionise or protest against unfair labour practices are often met with harsh resistance in the form of threats of termination and physical violence from company management and police.
