"No parent would want their children to be working"
Mahira Khan took to Twitter to request her fans and fellow celebrities to raise their voice against child labour, deeming the act illegal, wrong and unethical.
In a video shared by Nadia Jamil, Mahira made the appeal.
She said: “For god’s sake, for these children’s sake and for the sake of the country, understand this and stop it.
“My message is not for the parents who are forced to send their children to work out of necessity.
“No parent would want their children to be working at an age when they should be playing and going to school.”
The plea comes after the horrific story of 14-year-old Rizwana went viral, in which she was brutally beaten by the wife of civil judge Asim Hafeez after she was accused of stealing jewellery from the house.
Mahira Khan continued: “The strange thing is that the Rizwana incident, the houses [these kinds of incidents] happen in, those houses are usually of the very educated and powerful.
“Why? Maybe because they know they will get bail easily, there’s no accountability for them.
“So this appeal of mine is to people like me and you, to people like us.
“People who are in positions of power, who have platforms, who have voices, who are lucky enough that we don’t have to send our children to beg and plead.
“Nor do we have to send our children to places and houses that are unknown to us, where God forbid, our children are abused or tortured.
“My appeal is for all of us to speak out, for lawmakers to provide enough so that these children don’t have to go and work.
“And of course, most importantly, when there are cases like Rizwana’s, there must be accountability.”
In a recent turn of events, the accused, Somia Asim, had been taken into custody on August 7, 2023, and was placed in judicial remand for a total of 14 days.
“When there are cases like Rizwana, there MUST BE ACCOUNTABILITY!”
Says @TheMahiraKhan
Mahira speaks from the heart about the struggles of parents struggling below the poverty line.
Instead of exploiting their children we can instead offer them a better life, an education!… pic.twitter.com/17uB1LidlB— Nadia Jamil (@NJLahori) August 7, 2023
Rizwana’s parents stated that their daughter worked as a maid in the judge’s house for six months, where she was tortured by Asim.
They also revealed that their daughter had not been paid her salary.
In an earlier statement, the civil judge admitted he was unaware of the brutality his wife subjected Rizwana to, and claimed he was against child abuse.
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