LAHORE: Participants at a convention hosted by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) have called for a renewed alliance between labour and cultural movements, saying workers’ rights and artistic freedom are closely connected.
The convention, titled Reconnecting Cultural Freedoms and Labour Rights, opened with actor Khaled Anum performing verses by Mian Muhammad Bakhsh and Sachal Sarmast. HRCP chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt said democracy and human rights depended on a strong labour movement.
During a session on solidarity, sanitation workers’ rights activist Boota Imtiaz Masih called for a union for sanitation workers. Farooq Tariq of the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee stressed the importance of solidarity, while actor Samiya Mumtaz said social hierarchies had long devalued manual labour and shaped how society treated artists.
A panel discussion examined challenges facing workers and cultural practitioners. Historian Dr Ali Raza said contemporary “hyper-politics” lacked the institutions and unions that had once supported progressive movements.
Journalist Shahzada Zulfiqar highlighted low wages for media workers, and National Labour Federation general secretary Umar Hayat described the weakening of labour unions in Balochistan.
Screenwriter Bee Gul said satellite television had pushed her to embed serious subjects in depoliticised storylines. Ajoka Theatre’s Shahid Mahmood Nadeem argued that social drama needed a corresponding workers’ movement. HRCP Council member Salima Hashmi called for a strategy that allowed younger generations to find their own path.
Other speakers highlighted the economic insecurity faced by cultural workers. All Pakistan Workers Federation president Gohar Taj said Pakistan still lacked a functioning minimum wage.
Visual artist Masooma Syed said artistic resistance often came at the cost of survival, while actor Ayesha Toor spoke about the difficulty of advocating for artistic freedom in a capitalist society.
At the close of the convention, HRCP secretary-general Harris Khalique presented a charter endorsed by participants. It states that the right to work with dignity and the right to create freely are inseparable.
The charter calls for a living wage, safe workplaces, social protection for all workers including those in informal employment the right to unionise and bargain collectively, equal rights and pay, and protection from discrimination and violence.
It also calls for cultural work to be recognised as labour, workers to participate in labour policy, and working-class communities to have equitable access to cultural platforms.
Reported By: Staff Reporter I Lahore
