January 2026
By Aitzaz Ibrahim
The voices of brick kiln workers are rarely heard. These workers, trapped in a system of bonded labour, and living cruel and miserable lives, suffer silently. Even in an age where the media has the efficiency and access to reach dark corners, these brick kiln labourers continue to live without being recognized, their issues almost never addressed and never making it to headlines. This has been the system since decades. Even today, thousands of laborers across Punjab remain trapped in a system of bonded labour, working under coercion and confinement with no access to justice.
But one day, a letter changed the course of the country’s judicial history.
It was 1988. The letter, written by Darshan Masih from Punjab, was addressed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan through Asma Jahangir. It was signed by 20 other kiln workers who were all being held in forced confinement and subjected to bonded labour, and it appealed for freedom, exposing the harsh realities of life under the bonded labour system.
Urged on by her relentless passion for human rights, Asma Jahangir conveyed this letter to then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Muhammad Afzal Zullah. Jahangir, only 36 years old, had already emerged as a prominent advocate for those in need for legal representation – marginalized communities and those who needed to exercise and protect their constitutional rights. This letter, therefore, was not just a complaint; it was a challenge to a deeply entrenched system of exploitation.
Details given by Darshan Masih and his fellow workers stated that they were being held captive at brick kilns in exchange for advance payments – known locally as peshgi.
Workers were not allowed to leave their jobs or the kiln premises. Any attempt to escape resulted in the worker being arrested by the police and handed back to the kiln owner, as if they were the owner’s ‘property’. By ignoring the situation, law enforcement agencies were effectively reinforcing a system of modern-day slavery.
A case is made
The reaction was almost instantaneous. In unprecedented action, the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of the letter. For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the Court treated a personal letter as a constitutional petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, recognizing it as a matter of public importance involving fundamental human rights.
The central question before the Court was clear and profound: Can an individual be detained and forced into labor merely because they received an advance payment? And can such a system coexist with the constitutional guarantees of freedom and dignity?
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court unequivocally ruled that the Constitution of Pakistan does not permit slavery or forced labour in any form. The Court held that detaining workers on the basis of advance payments amounts to forced labour and is a direct violation of Article 11 of the Constitution, which explicitly prohibits slavery, forced labour, and child labour. As a result, the system of bonded labour based on peshgi was declared illegal.
The Court further clarified that the duty of the police is not to protect the economic interests of brick kiln owners, but to safeguard the liberty and constitutional rights of citizens. This declaration exposed the complicity of state institutions in perpetuating bonded labour and reaffirmed the state’s responsibility to uphold fundamental rights.
The impact of the judgment extended far beyond the release of Darshan Masih and his co-workers. The ruling laid the constitutional foundation for comprehensive legislation against bonded labour. In 1992, as a direct outcome of this case, Pakistan enacted the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, providing a legal framework to eliminate bonded labour across the country. The law remains a crucial protective instrument for workers to this day.
Even now, whenever a labourer is unlawfully detained under the guise of debt or advance payments, the Darshan Masih case is cited as a legal precedent. It continues to serve as a powerful reminder that no economic arrangement can override human dignity or constitutional freedom.
This was the letter that reached the Supreme Court through Asma Jahangir, and it was this letter that led to the abolition of bonded labour and forced confinement under Pakistan’s law—declaring the entire system of exploitation through peshgi unconstitutional.