153 4 Encounters In our society, boys and girls can do the same things. Your gender is decided by the body you were born with. Ways of expressing your opinion: In my opinion … I believe … I understand your point, however I think … I agree with you because … I disagree with you because … Iqbal Masih (1983–1995) by Ben Brooks At the age of four, Iqbal started work at a carpet factory in Pakistan. When his mum got sick, she borrowed one hundred dollars from the owner of the factory to have an operation. She couldn’t pay the money back. Instead, she had to give Iqbal to the factory owner as a slave. There, he was forced to work long hours in a tiny, hot space filled with noisy and dangerous equipment. He had to work relentlessly and was beaten up if he ever slowed down. When Iqbal was ten, he escaped. He ran to the police and explained everything. Instead of helping, the police took him back to the factory and claimed a reward. This time, Iqbal was chained to the carpet machine so he couldn’t get away. One day, he spotted a poster for an organization called the BLLF, who aimed to rescue people from captivity. He secretly contacted them. They told him that slavery had been ended and all slaves were supposed to have been released. With the help of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, Iqbal and some of the other children from his factory were allowed to leave. But it wasn’t happening everywhere. Most factory owners were ignoring the new laws and keeping children trapped in their factories, chained to the clanking machines. Iqbal made it his mission to set them free. He snuck into factories and told the kids trapped there about their rights. Before reading Arrange your thinking using a graphic organiser. In a centre circle, write Pakistan. Extend lines from the circle and write down all the things you know about the country. a carpet factory – teppaverksmiðja equipment – búnaður relentlessly – hér: stanslaust to claim a reward – fundarlaun chained to – hlekkjaður við captivity – fangavist bonded labour – nauðungarvinna snuck (to sneak) – laumaðist
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