Aghaz-e-Safar

We explore the lives of some remarkable children who have endured abuse at home, on the streets or in institutions. Hasnain was a young student who received a fatal punishment for being five minutes late to school. Tanveer is a former street child and rape victim now working against child abuse. Urooj Zia, sexually molested by her father, is the founder of Laalteyn, an online platform for sexually abused children. We speak with activists and mental health professionals who explore the links between child protection and good governance.

This year will mark the two-year anniversary of the deadly blaze in Baldia Town which killed over 200 factory workers. We meet an inspirational group of people who are confronting long-suppressed issues of bonded labor, minimum wage and labour rights. Zulfiqar Shah, joint director of PILER, fears that health and safety conditions across factories in Pakistan remain alarming poor. Obaid ur Rehman, the President of a union of a five star hotel in Karachi, is among 150 workers defending themselves from low wages. Veeru Kohli is a former bonded laborer who managed to escape from a life of slavery and run for office in the 2013 national elections.

We gain insight into the difficulties faced by physically disabled individuals in Pakistan and explore the current state of our resources and infrastructure available to those who are physically challenged. We meet an extraordinary group of individuals who have defied the odds and grown to achieve incredible feats such as ArshadAbbasi who is the first blind man to pass the CSS exams in Pakistan. We also speak with activists who are not only working to increase awareness about disabilities, but are also lending their support to less-abled individuals in order to help them achieve their full potential.