Farooq Malang used to work with all his family members at a brick kiln 12 hours a day. It was a 50-minute drive from Lahore. At the end of the day, the family would end up making bricks worth Rs3,900 and all they were paid was just enough money to cook meal for the family that evening.

The owners’ agents had taken Farooq Malang’s son in their custody, put a chain around his neck, and tied him to a post to which they would tie their buffalo. It was an elevated place from where the owners kept watch over the workers.

The family at the kiln would work with the knowledge that their son/brother was in chains in the custody of the toughs hired by the kiln owners. According to Brick kiln union leaders, the owners were sons of an influential member of the Punjab Assembly, who have shares in 11 brick kilns in Bhai Pheru, 58 kilometres from Lahore. ‘

It all started when Malang saw the owner’s men beating a worker from another family. He tried to stop them. That was enough to invite the owners’ wrath. This was January 2012.

One day, Farooq Malang and his wife managed to escape from the brick kiln by feigning they were going to fetch medicines. They came in contact with Bhatta Mazdoor Union, which filed a case against kiln owners in the Lahore High Court to free the family from torture and exploitation.

In the court of Justice Mazahir Ali Naqvi the owners openly threatened those fighting for the rights of the oppressed. The kiln owners denied in the court that they had held a family hostage. The police said before the judge that Malang had registered a false case against the owners.

In short, the police was able to recover the chained boy. Though the union succeeded in getting the family released, the kiln owners went scott-free.

"The irony is that brick kilns have been declared an industry and the largest workforce in Pakistan and they are the most oppressed," says Farooq Tariq, General Secretary Awami Workers Party. "Verbal abuse is at its highest in this sector and only extreme cases of physical torture get reported," he says.

In Faisalabad, Bhatta Mazdoor Union Coordinator, Aslam Raj, was beaten and tortured by gangsters in May who left him with two broken ribs. All union leaders allege kiln owners were behind this act of violence.

Another kiln workers’ leader, Baba Latif Ansari, was shot six time which left his right leg permanently damaged. He was leaving the Labour Department Faisalabad when he was shot at. The police said brick kiln owners had nothing to do with it. No FIR has been registered.

Physical torture of workers is common in this ‘industry’. In 2008, a teenager named Aziz was tortured in Lahore by kiln owners near Wahga border who had accused him of theft that had taken place four years ago. "The court ordered Baghbanpura police to investigate the case, which held the owners responsible for the attack and ordered lodging of an FIR. Influentials of the area started visiting the police station to save the accused," recounts Mahmood Butt, Secretary General Bhatta Mazdoor Union.

In the same police station, rape of a 13-year old brick kiln worker was reported in 2006 by the owner’s supervisor. The owners allegedly offered Rs50,000 in return for closing the case, which the girl and her family refused. The police ‘advised’ the family to settle the issue with the kiln owners.

It is very difficult for workers to escape from brick kilns. "A family did manage to flee from Wazirabad to Tanda towards Gujrat in Punjab but employers soon traced them and brought them back to the kiln though the court had set them free," Butt recalls.

Farooq Tariq recalls an accident near Basin Road close to BRB canal Lahore in 2005, which shows apathy of the city administration and the kiln owners alike." A tractor trolley on its way to the kiln fell into a 20-30 feet deep ditch. The city administration took out the trolley but didn’t bother to take out the bodies. They said, "Forget the bodies. It is not possible to take them out". There were two kiln workers in it as well. The workers and the union demanded recovery of the bodies."

"The brick kiln owner did not give anything to the families of the deceased," Butt remembers.

Ironically, a family of brick kiln workers is referred to as ‘khata’ (register) by kiln owners. "Violations are common because owners are fined only Rs200 for violation of human rights. Labour department challans under Factory Act when it should be applying Bonded Labour Abolition Act," says Khalid Mahmood, Director Labour Education Foundation.

"Labour department is the most ineffective department. The political will is missing," says Khalid. Labour leaders question Punjab Government’s project on empowering labour -- Rs5.25 billion project for the uplift of brick kiln workers announced recently. The project has been approved by the chief minister Punjab. It is to be seen if this money is actually used for the welfare of brick kiln workers.