Background of the Analysis

1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Analysis

The problem of child labour or children exploitation are the phenomenon that still happens until now. The problem of child labour is one of the social problems caused by poverty. Millions of children, especially in Pakistan and India, work in factories to make carpets, mud bricks, beedis cigarettes, jewelry, and clothing. The statistics show that about 250 million child workers exist in the age group of 5-14 all over the world. A recent survey conducted by International Labour Organization ILO states that out of these 61 percent are in Asia, 32 percent in Africa and 7 percent in Latin America. India and Pakistan have the largest number of child laboures. It is also true that child labour in India and Pakistan are more of a rural phenomenon with more than 90 percent children are working in agricultural and allied activities in the villages. Of those, almost three-quarters work in hazardous situations or conditions, such as working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or working with dangerous machinery. They are toiling everywhere as domestic servants in homes, laboring behind the walls of workshops, being hidden from view in plantations. Millions of girls work as domestic servants and unpaid household help and are especially vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Millions of others work under horrific circumstances. They may be trafficked, forced into debt bondage or other forms of slavery, into prostitution and pornography, into participating in armed conflict or other illicit activities. Poverty and child labour conditions in Pakistan are clearly portrayed in Iqbal. 2 Iqbal is a novel based on the true story of a Pakistan child slave named Iqbal Masih. Iqbal is written by Francesco D’adamo in french, which takes place in Pakistan. Iqbal is translated by Ann Leonari into English. Iqbal novel portrays the Pakistan children’s life in 1980 which was occupied with depiction of poverty and commencement to being labours towards the children themselves. The novel Iqbal is narrated through the eyes of a young female slave named Fatima, who works with Iqbal at the carpet factory, which is also known as a carpet weaver. She reveals the terrible reality of being a child slave in Pakistan, working long hours, crammed into a dark, dingy and humid room with no fresh air, with dozen of other young child slaves. The children do not attend school. Instead, they are thrust into the life of an adult, working more than 12 hours a day in appalling conditions. Children are abused and their childhoods are lost, imprisoned by cruel sweatshop owners. Iqbal is the representation of other children who exploited by the moneylender and industrialist in Pakistan. Fatima, Maria, Salman and others who work together with Iqbal in the Hussain Khan’s carpet weaver, are also exploited by Hussain Khan in the carpet weaver. Iqbal’s name become the symbol of the battle to liberate millioms of children throughout the world from violence and slavery. Iqbal Masih was sold by his father to the carpet weaver to pay off his family debt. Iqbal spent 6 years worked in the Hussain Khan’s carpet weaver. He was made to work seven days a week, at least 14 hours a day, tying millions of knots to make the intricate carpet designs. His growth was stunted from lack of proper food and his back became permanently curved from bending to the loom. His hands were scarred and callused, his fingers gnarled and his breathing labored from inhaling carpet dust. 3 When he was 10 years old, Iqbal was freed by the Bonded Labor Liberation Front. Then, he went to school, and completed four years of work in just two years. Iqbal became an outspoken advocate for other child slaves, becoming involved in demonstrations and speaking at meetings all over the world about his experiences as a child laborer. He even went undercover, pretended to be a factory worker, so he could interview children about their working conditions. In 1994, Iqbal won the Reebok Human Rights Award for his efforts to help free other bonded child laborers. His growing popularity and influence caused him to receive numerous death threats. In 1995, when he was just 13 years old, Iqbal was shot to death in the streets, some people think it is caused by his political activities. Pakistan in the 1980s, in which poverty had struck the Pakistan’s society at the time. Poverty was able to change the life and morals of Pakistan’s society. There were a lot of young men who were unemployment. Most people who were trapped in debt to survive. Children also became victims of poverty as a social problem that was caused by economic factor. Most of children were sold to some factories by their parents in order to pay off their debt. Children had to work like men and women. Children could not go to school to get an education. All of the Pakistan children’s situation and condition are portrayed through Iqbal life story. For what happened in Pakistan in 1980, it still continues up to this day. Malala Yousafzai has proved this through her speech which led her into the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala Yousafzai is the youngest person who achieves the Nobel Peace Prize. She is a children and women activist who was shot by someone. She dedicates the award she got for all children who need education. In her speech, she states that many children in the world do not have access to gain education because of poverty. She also described the children’s situation in some countries, like Pakistan. Most of children can not get qualified education because they have to work in order to support their family’s income. Some of their parents 4 send them into a factory as children worker. Then, Malala speaks up for children and woman rights. Through Malala’s speech, the writer becomes more confident and believe that poverty and child labour children exploitation are really good topics to discuss. Phenomenon that occurred in Pakistan during 1980s was portrayed in a novel. A novel is normally a prose work of quite some length and complexity which attempts to reflect and express something of the equality or value of human experience or conduct Taylor 1981:46. Most of novels deal with people and their social life’s problem. Novel is also an account of life which can be related to mythical stories, historical events, social occurences, philosophical ideas, biographical elements, or religious doctrines. It is as Elizabeth Burns and Tom Burns 1973: 35 mention in the Sociology of Literature and Drama: Selected Readings that: The form and content of the novel derive more closely from social phenomenon than do those of other arts, except perhaps cinema: novels often seem bound up with particular moments in the history of society. The problem that is found in Iqbal novel is the social problems of Pakistan children in 1980s. It is about child labour as the impact of poverty on children. Child labour is a kind of exploitation of children. Child has to work for a long time in order to help their family’s income. Conconsequently, children are not only deprived of their dignity but also their freedom to play, and their scope to develop physically, mentally and emotionally is lost. It is as Pramila H. Bhargava 2003:23 mentions in The Elimination of Chils Labour Whose Responsibility? that: The definition of child labour constitutes any act where children between the age of 5 and 14 years are directly or indirectly forced to work at home or outside it. As a consequence, children are not only deprived of their dignity but also their freedom to play, and their scope to develop physically, mentally and emotionally is lost. As a part of society, children have to grow normally. Children must develop physically and mentally. Become taller, heavier, stronger and capable of such activities as 5 walking, talking, writing, riding a bicycle and later having sexual relations are physically children development. Mentally, children become capable of such activities as memorizing poems, working out problems, imagining love scenes, and acquiring the knowledge necessary to carry through a job. However, such lines of development in themselves are limited value in explaining how someone functions in society. A child should also get a good socialization process. Parents or family have an important role on children development. The family is the first unit with which the child has continuous contact and the first context in which socialization patterns develop. Parents should not involve their children into the family’s economic problem as it is potential to damage the children’s mental and physic Poverty and child labour are the main problems that will be analyzed in this thesis. Child labour as the impact of poverty on children is a sociology term that is portrayed through a novel. It is the reason why this thesis is a sociology of literature study. In order to analyze all of social problems that occured in the Iqbal novel, Qualitative method is used in this thesis. The qualitative method consists of research design, data collection and data analysis. Library research and internet research are also supported in collecting the data. Text and context approach are applied in data analyzing procedure. The context is historical approach. The data that will be collected are some quotations. Then, the conclusion can be made in this thesis. Iqbal, which is portrayed Iqbal’s life story really influences the Pakistan children right now. It is the reason why the life story of Iqbal is analyzed in this thesis. This thesis is made to portray the Pakistan children’s life story as the victim of poverty. The previous line is the reason which this thesis goes to the title as Iqbal as the Victim of Poverty Portrayed in Francesco DAdamo’s “Iqbal”. 6

1.2 Problem of the Analysis