Factory Fires - music video

Jawad Ahmad is a famous Pakistani singer who has written this song as a tribute to the workers who have died in factory fires in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. In media reports he says he wants to highlight the non-existing labour laws in Pakistan that mean such things can happen with impunity.

We thought this song was interesting for a number of reasons. To our 'western eyes/ears' we did not like the picture the song paints of the 'poor, helpless' workers. The song also evades any explicit mention of the reasons why workers endure such exploitative conditions. However, perhaps this reflects the fact that labour unions are virtually non-existent  for the private sector in Pakistan, having faced severe repression from the government. As a seemingly rather sentimental pop song bemoaning the pain and misery of the worker, it is nevertheless interesting that a song with the 'worker' as the main subject matter is even made, and by a mainstream singer.

The end of the song picks up the pace and gives a little more hope to a future of empowerment, labour militancy and struggle with the lyrics: