Untold Stories of The Baldia Town Factory Incident 2012
The devastating Baldia Town factory fire that claimed hundreds of lives in Karachi in 2012. This documentary delves into the tragic events, shedding light on the lives lost, the challenges faced by survivors, and the pursuit of justice. Diving deep into Karachi factory inferno at Baldia Town, the factory fire that revered to this day as Karachi 2012 fire, and the 12-hour Pakistan factory fire that left hundreds dead and its significance with the MQM - Muttahida Quami Movement.
The devastating Baldia Town factory fire that claimed hundreds of lives in Karachi in 2012. This documentary delves into the tragic events, shedding light on the lives lost, the challenges faced by survivors, and the pursuit of justice. Diving deep into Karachi factory inferno at Baldia Town, the factory fire that revered to this day as Karachi 2012 fire, and the 12-hour Pakistan factory fire that left hundreds dead and its significance with the MQM - Muttahida Quami Movement.
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00:00There is a scream from inside, there is a scream from inside.
00:03It wasn't an accident.
00:04It was done on purpose.
00:06Standing at a distance of 100 meters,
00:08the threat was such that we could feel it till there.
00:10Tapish.
00:13They were calling from inside.
00:15Save the child or...
00:16When you don't intend to save people,
00:19then all these things happen.
00:20Whose era was it? MKM's.
00:22The blame was on who? It was on MKM.
00:24But you actually couldn't catch MKM.
00:26They had such things that
00:29it was a matter of minutes.
00:31In seconds, the car was on fire and there was a fire.
00:35They had made themselves so big on this level
00:38that they thought that if they do small things now, it won't be fun.
00:41Those who earn in dollars,
00:42they don't even spend a single rupee on their labor.
00:46They had a boiler inside.
00:48May God forgive us.
00:49Maybe he also melted those bones.
00:51If they are murderers, then they are murderers too.
00:54Mr. Eidi was there.
00:55Every family in Pakistan was against him.
00:58The people who are taking birth after him are very dangerous.
01:01I am yearning for two pieces of bread.
01:03I am yearning for two pieces of bread.
01:13Clothes on Eid,
01:14henna on the full moon night,
01:16and bangles.
01:19Which girl doesn't want all this?
01:22But Shumaila didn't get Eidi on Eid.
01:24Neither clothes, nor praise, nor salary.
01:28To say, she used to work in a big garment factory like Ali Enterprises.
01:32Where the denim made by her hands used to go to Germany.
01:36But she herself could never get out of Baldia Town.
01:39From home to factory and from factory to home.
01:41This was her life.
01:42And Shumaila too,
01:44did all that hard work that used to work in Ali Enterprises.
01:47But then this story changed completely.
01:50September 11, 2012.
01:5224th of Shawwal.
01:54That is, it had been almost a month since Eid had passed.
01:57Shumaila was hopeful that she would get her salary today.
02:00Just a little while before the sewing machine was handled,
02:03there was a noise outside.
02:04Fire! Fire!
02:05Run! Run!
02:06Get out! Hurry up!
02:08And then she felt a sharp smell.
02:11Shumaila and the other women just wanted to get up,
02:14but the light went off.
02:15The noise was getting louder and louder.
02:17And whatever was happening,
02:18was happening upstairs.
02:20A few moments later,
02:21there was smoke in Shumaila's apartment.
02:24Black and dense smoke,
02:26which was coming from God knows where.
02:28Everyone tried to get out,
02:29but because the light was off,
02:31the electric door was auto-locked.
02:40There was no window or light in this part of the basement.
02:44So there was a commotion and such commotion,
02:46that you couldn't hear a single sound.
02:48Suddenly, behind the smoke,
02:50yellow and orange flames of fire began to be seen.
02:53The clothes and sewing machines in the hall
02:55started to get caught in the flames.
02:57Shumaila stood in a corner and started crying loudly.
03:00She didn't know where to go,
03:02who to call for help.
03:04In this commotion,
03:06a cloud of smoke,
03:07passed through Shumaila's nose and reached her brain.
03:10She felt dizzy and fainted.
03:12What happened to Shumaila that day?
03:14Was she able to get out of Ali Enterprises' basement alive or not?
03:18And how did this fire become a major event in the history of Pakistan?
03:22We will tell you all this in this video.
03:24But we have a request from you.
03:25Subscribe to Raftaar so that you get to know about our upcoming videos.
03:33Shumaila's 15-year-old sister Sana and her mother Bilqees Khatun
03:36are present outside the factory.
03:38Behind every stretcher that leaves the factory,
03:40sometimes the ambulances are seen by crazy people
03:43that maybe they can get a clue about their beloved and the only family member.
03:48The factory is still on fire.
03:50The fire was so intense that
03:53if you think about it,
03:54if we are standing at a distance of about 100 meters,
03:57the intensity of the fire was so intense that we could feel it till there.
03:59The heat of that fire.
04:01People are jumping out of the few windows where there are no forests.
04:05The rest of the people are screaming for help behind the bars.
04:09It's a strange scene.
04:11We were calling from inside
04:13to save the children.
04:15We were getting calls from people.
04:18They were giving instructions that
04:20one of our friends died.
04:22Another friend died.
04:24The electric gates were closed.
04:28When the circuit was over, the electric doors were locked.
04:31Many people were holding the door like this.
04:33When their dead bodies were taken out,
04:35their hands were taken out.
04:36There was coal inside.
04:40At that time, there was screaming all around.
04:43There was screaming inside and outside.
04:45People were dying inside and saving lives outside.
04:49After more than an hour of delay,
04:51the fire brigade arrived.
04:53But their vehicle was not able to throw water
04:55due to some technical malfunction.
04:57The fire brigade was not only stopped from working,
04:59but it was also stopped from going to the area.
05:04Whether they were allowed to reach or not,
05:06this will always be a dispute.
05:08There were many firefighters who were in a position
05:10that no one could stop them.
05:12The fire brigade of the Air Force was very close.
05:15No one could stop the fire brigade of the Air Force.
05:18It did not come.
05:21The Metropolitan Fire Department said that
05:24our vehicles were damaged,
05:26our water was over, etc.
05:30These are all things to say.
05:32When you have no intention to save people,
05:34then all these things happen.
05:38A ladder was brought from somewhere
05:40but due to the crowd,
05:42it also broke down.
05:46Sana knew that her sister
05:48works in the stitching department
05:50which is on the basement or ground floor.
05:52So she is consoling her mother
05:54that the fire is not down,
05:56it is up.
05:58But a mother is a mother.
06:00Bilqis Khatun is not at peace.
06:02She pleads to everyone
06:04that have you seen my Shumaila?
06:06But everyone is telling her to go to Abbasi or Seville.
06:09There is no point in searching in the dark.
06:13The wounds that were coming out
06:15when they were burnt,
06:17it felt as if they were alive.
06:19Because the burning or the fire
06:21makes a person feel that it is okay now.
06:23You can feel it later with the burn.
06:26The burning of the human body,
06:28the burning of wood,
06:30the burning of the iron of the machine,
06:32the burning of the cloth kept there.
06:34When all this is burnt
06:36and a mixture gas is formed,
06:38the suffocation that is created there,
06:40the smoke that is created,
06:42the suffocation that is there,
06:44then I think it is very difficult
06:46for the human body to come out.
06:51Time is passing by quickly.
06:53It is 9 o'clock in the night.
06:55The building of the burning factory in the dark
06:57is presenting a scene of a mini hell.
06:59The ambulance is making noise
07:01from a distance in front of the black brick walls.
07:03Along with that, the media's vans
07:05and the vehicles of VIP's protocols
07:08are also coming inside.
07:10But only burnt and scattered corpses
07:12are coming out from inside.
07:14The lifeless bodies wrapped in sheets.
07:16In this moment of doom,
07:18every helpful worker was standing like a superhero.
07:20But there was also a person
07:22who took dozens of corpses
07:24to the ambulance with his own hands.
07:26Mr. Edhi was there.
07:28He did a lot of work.
07:30I think if someone has a loan,
07:32every household in Pakistan is indebted to him.
07:34There are 19 such people.
07:36There are 13 or 14 such people
07:38who have not been identified yet.
07:40They are buried with their numbers.
07:42So Mr. Edhi took those dead bodies
07:44with his own hands.
07:46Neither Sana nor Bilqis
07:48are able to see their faces properly
07:50and no one is being identified
07:52in the burnt clothes.
07:54Finally, the mother and daughter decided
07:56that Abbasi Shaheed should be taken to the hospital.
08:00Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
08:02There is also a burn center there.
08:04It is a burn center.
08:06But if there is a case,
08:08Jinnah Hospital does not accept it.
08:10They refer Jinnah Hospital
08:12to Civil Hospital
08:14or Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
08:16So we don't have any such preparation today.
08:18God forbid,
08:20if you go and check today
08:22in an emergency of a hospital
08:24that they have any preparation
08:26for 100 cases of burn.
08:28This factory was owned by Ali Enterprises
08:30Abdul Aziz Bhaila and his two sons Arshad and Shahid.
08:33Such a big factory was expanded
08:35on different occasions
08:37due to which the building became very unstable.
08:39During the expansion,
08:41neither the fire exits were taken care of
08:43nor the windows, alarm or fire system.
08:45The second floor of the factory
08:47was like a jail
08:49from which the way out
08:51was through the stairs
08:53inside the first floor.
08:55When there was a fire,
08:57there was a commotion on the second floor.
08:59Due to less light and smoke,
09:01there was a boiler on the first floor
09:03and a basement on the second floor.
09:05Such a heavy boiler was installed
09:07on the roof of the basement.
09:09On the first floor,
09:11there was a wooden warehouse
09:13on which about 100 women
09:15work illegally.
09:17You can't make a wooden warehouse.
09:19When there was a fire,
09:21100 people died there.
09:23They did this.
09:25The third thing is that
09:27there was no alarm.
09:30If there was an alarm,
09:32it would tell you where there is a fire.
09:34People didn't know that there was a fire.
09:36If there was an alarm,
09:38everything would be fine.
09:40The third thing is that
09:42there were electric doors on the doors.
09:44In any industry,
09:46where workers work in bulk,
09:48there is no industrial door.
09:50Those doors are open
09:52so that people can go out
09:54if there is any problem.
09:56There were big windows like this.
09:58Workers used to throw their things
10:00outside.
10:02If there were 3 times more workers,
10:04they could have been
10:06thrown out of the building
10:08in 45 minutes.
10:10There were no roads.
10:12On the roads,
10:14there were flammable things
10:16like buttons, chemicals,
10:18etc.
10:20People died
10:22due to suffocation
10:24and carbon monoxide.
10:26People went down
10:28to the basement
10:30and the water was boiling.
10:32Machines were broken.
10:34It was so hot
10:36that the machines melted.
10:38How could people survive?
10:42Sana and Bilqis Khatun
10:44reached Abbasi Shaheed
10:46where hundreds of worried people
10:48were already there looking for their loved ones.
10:50Every few minutes,
10:52an ambulance arrived
10:55and left the body
10:57with a siren.
10:59There was no place in the emergency.
11:01That's why there were so many stretchers
11:03outside.
11:05People were removing
11:07the clothes from the bodies
11:09to recognize their loved ones.
11:11But neither Sana nor her mother
11:13dared to do so.
11:15Both were praying
11:17and calling out to Shumaila
11:19for help.
11:21That's when
11:23a loud bang
11:25removed the clothes from the bodies.
11:27One of them had Shumaila's body
11:29which Sana recognized.
11:31She went and hugged the body.
11:33Bilqis Khatun was also
11:35calling out to Shumaila
11:37for help.
11:39But her body was not moving.
11:41There were many more people
11:43who were crying
11:45and mourning
11:47including Shumaila and Bilqis Khatun.
11:53Time passed very quickly
11:55but the speed of justice
11:57was slow.
11:59First, the police
12:01filed a case against Ali Enterprises'
12:03owner, company's general manager
12:05and four watchmen.
12:07But the owners left the country
12:09with bail from the court.
12:11It was the MQM's turn.
12:13The blame was on the MQM.
12:15The police officers
12:17who were interrogated
12:19were under their influence.
12:21If the MQM
12:23is still
12:25in a political
12:27setup
12:29and the people's party
12:31is accused of something,
12:33no police officer
12:35will file a case
12:37against the party.
12:39Three years passed.
12:41The people were eager for justice.
12:43In 2015, a new turn came in the case.
12:45Pakistan Rangers filed a case
12:47against the Naurukni Joint Investigation
12:49in the High Court.
12:51ISI, Military Intelligence, Rangers
12:53and FIA were all involved.
12:55The report claimed
12:57that the case was not
12:59about the owners' negligence
13:01but about corruption.
13:03Not just 10-20 lakhs
13:05but 20 crores.
13:07Five years later,
13:09in the light of the evidence
13:11the court ruled
13:13that it was a conspiracy.
13:15We will tell you
13:17about this later.
13:19First, let's see
13:21how the factory owners
13:23were accused of corruption.
13:29According to the JIT report,
13:31the factory accountant
13:33was one of the witnesses.
13:35He said,
13:37I smelled something strange
13:39near the warehouse.
13:41I went closer and saw
13:43pieces of fire in the warehouse.
13:45I shouted,
13:47turn off the main switch.
13:49Someone did this
13:51but the fire spread quickly.
13:55A factory production manager
13:57also said,
13:59I sent the accountant
14:01to bring the fire brigade.
14:03But after 1-1.5 hours
14:05there was no sign of the fire.
14:07When the car arrived,
14:09there was a technical problem.
14:11Some people said
14:13that it was impossible
14:15to enter the factory.
14:39It was not an accident.
14:41But if we imagine
14:43that it was an accident,
14:45then not extinguishing the fire
14:47is a big crime.
14:49It was stopped
14:51and the JIT report
14:53has evidence of it.
14:55Cars were stopped,
14:57people were stopped,
14:59people were stopped from
15:01getting out.
15:03It is a big crime.
15:05A bigger crime than this
15:07is what was done.
15:11JIT revealed that
15:13this fire was started by Zubair
15:15who was in-charge of the
15:17finishing department of the factory.
15:19He had a strong relationship
15:21with MQM.
15:23But how did he start the fire?
15:25Now listen to this.
15:27According to the report,
15:29Zubair was walking around
15:31the factory with his 4-5 colleagues.
15:33But he had no work here.
15:35The people with Zubair
15:37did not work in the factory.
15:39But MQM's sector in-charge,
15:41Rehman Bhola,
15:43gave them some stuff
15:45and brought them here.
15:47It was magnesium metal.
15:49A chemical that burns
15:51for a long time.
15:53Bhola himself brought them
15:55to the factory gate.
15:57The factory accountant told
15:59that initially he thought
16:01that the smoke was
16:03coming from Zubair's cigarette
16:05which he was constantly smoking.
16:07But then this smoke
16:09turned into a storm.
16:11When Zubair caught
16:134-5 black shoppers
16:15and threw them on the curtains
16:17in the warehouse.
16:19This sparked the fire.
16:37He had a lot of research
16:39and expertise on this.
17:0310-15 employees
17:05rushed to the warehouse
17:07and tried to put out the fire.
17:09But it was not an ordinary fire.
17:11The flames were very high
17:13and hot.
17:15In a few minutes,
17:17the warehouse was completely
17:19engulfed in flames
17:21and the flames reached
17:23the upper floors.
17:25Everyone wanted to get
17:27out of the factory.
17:29In this attempt,
17:31half of the people
17:33were trapped.
17:35The fire was spreading
17:37and people were trying
17:39to get out of the factory.
17:41A ladder was brought
17:43and 50 people were
17:45pulled out of the window.
17:47Hundreds of people
17:49were trapped inside
17:51and wanted to get out.
17:53But the ladder broke.
17:55People were jumping
17:57out of the building
17:59without knowing
18:01what was below.
18:03The fire calmed down
18:05after 24 hours.
18:07It is said that many people
18:09came out of the factory
18:11and fainted.
18:31Zubair Charia later
18:33gave a statement
18:35to the magistrate
18:37and said that he
18:39called the in-charge
18:41of the Karachi committee
18:43and said that the work
18:45has been done.
18:47He said that the party,
18:49MNA and MPAs will come here.
18:51Meet them and help
18:53the people outside the factory
18:55so that no one doubts.
18:57Zubair agreed to this
18:59and kept a camp outside
19:01the factory for 4-5 days.
19:03He came in front of
19:05the media cameras during
19:07the activities.
19:09It was said that
19:11it was an accident.
19:13It was not an accident.
19:15It was done on purpose.
19:17The doors were closed.
19:19Even the owner
19:21who wanted to go inside
19:23and open the doors
19:25was not given a chance.
19:27I think that
19:31the important people
19:33could not be named
19:35in the beginning.
19:37The pressure
19:39in the society
19:41was such
19:43that you should not
19:45dare to fire
19:47in the air.
19:49You should name the MQMs
19:51but you could not
19:53actually catch them.
19:55In the initial FIR,
19:57the reason for the fire was
19:59the short circuit.
20:01The factory was
20:03responsible for the fire.
20:05There was no fire extinguisher
20:07and no way to save the people.
20:09Later, when the JIT report
20:11was published,
20:13it was stated that
20:15if there was a short circuit,
20:17the factory would be affected
20:19and the fire would be controlled.
20:21How is it possible that
20:23the fire spread to other parts
20:25of the factory?
20:27It is said that later on,
20:29K Electric also stated that
20:31they did not find any clue
20:33about the short circuit.
20:35There were two reasons
20:37for the short circuit.
20:39First, it was assumed
20:41that the factory was not
20:43ready for the fire
20:45and the health and safety
20:47of the people was not good.
20:49Secondly,
20:51since the discussion was
20:53on the health and safety measures,
20:55many human rights organisations
20:57thought that they could
20:59increase the discussion
21:01on the health and safety
21:03measures.
21:05They forgot that the facts
21:07are more important than
21:09the issues themselves.
21:11However, the people
21:13wanted something unusual.
21:15They had made themselves so big
21:17that they thought that
21:19it would not be fun if they
21:21did something small.
21:23Now, it was decided that
21:25the fire was not lit,
21:27but was installed.
21:29But why was it installed?
21:31This was the month of July,
21:33almost two months before Saneh.
21:35According to the factory's
21:37production manager,
21:39on 20 July 2012,
21:41Rehman Bhola came to the factory
21:43and talked to the owners for a long time.
21:45The next day, he came to know
21:47that Rs. 25 crore was demanded.
21:49The second way was to
21:51give partnership to the factory.
21:53Initially, the owners,
21:55i.e. Bhaila and Sons,
21:57tried to settle the matter
21:59for Rs. 1 crore.
22:01But Bhola came to 25-20
22:03and said that one pie would not
22:05be less than this.
22:17If it was a figure of Rs. 20 crore,
22:19then there would be no
22:21documentary evidence of it.
22:23But the purpose of asking for Rs. 20 crore
22:25is that a person will adjust
22:27Rs. 5 crore, Rs. 7 crore,
22:29Rs. 10 crore somewhere.
22:31And the owners were in the position
22:33that they could give up to Rs. 5 crore.
22:35Mufti Naeem,
22:37who is the owner of the site,
22:39said that
22:41he had made a deal
22:43for Rs. 10 crore.
22:45We need a share in the profit.
22:47If he is giving Rs. 10 crore easily,
22:49then he can give more money.
22:51If we interrogate Mufti Naeem,
22:53he will tell us who asked him
22:55to make the deal
22:57and who asked him to give Rs. 9 crore to Bhaila.
22:59Why would anyone give Rs. 5 crore
23:01or even Rs. 1 crore?
23:03He took a stand.
23:05To show that stand
23:07and the people around
23:09that what lesson can be
23:11taught, this action was taken.
23:13I don't think
23:15it was planned
23:17that 270 workers
23:19will die.
23:21But if they die,
23:23what difference does it make
23:25to the people who burn them?
23:29The MQM of those days
23:31didn't ask for Rs. 25 crore.
23:33Two men would come with a TT
23:35and take Bhaila on a motorcycle.
23:37Bhaila would have been paid
23:39Rs. 50 crore.
23:41An important question arises.
23:43Some experts say that
23:45the owners or their families
23:47could have been kidnapped
23:49if they didn't pay the money.
23:51But in spite of this,
23:53a factory was set on fire
23:55where the workers were
23:57mostly Urdu speaking.
23:59Within a week of the accident,
24:01we interviewed 105 families
24:03and they are recorded.
24:05They didn't say anything
24:07that has been spread.
24:09We have the evidence.
24:11Whether it was a fire or an accident,
24:13it could have been a short circuit
24:15or an accident.
24:17But the death was
24:1995% due to
24:21closed roads,
24:23no way out,
24:25no alarm,
24:27people were going up
24:29the same way,
24:31flammable material
24:33was everywhere.
24:35Two or three months ago,
24:37the factory was set on fire.
24:39The owners told us to
24:41take out the merchandise
24:43and the machine
24:45and then take out the people.
24:47All the investigations
24:49that were done,
24:51whatever they found,
24:53obviously, no one knows the intention.
24:55The people were caught
24:57and the people refused.
24:59The responsible people refused.
25:01You can't say that the matter
25:03is clear now.
25:05It is still in the air.
25:07If someone wants to know
25:09the exact truth,
25:11it is not that easy.
25:13You are presenting Malik Khan
25:15as a murderer.
25:17If he is a murderer,
25:19then he is also a murderer.
25:21Two murderers are fighting.
25:23One murderer is accused of being
25:25a criminal and the other
25:27is accused of being a murderer.
25:29The family says that
25:31our murderer is Malik Khan.
25:33He was not registered.
25:35The children were working there.
25:37The girl's grave was there.
25:39The electric doors were illegal.
25:41It was a crime.
25:43It is a murder of workers.
25:45The owners are still doing business.
25:47No one is saying anything to them.
25:49The martyrs keep crying
25:51to their children.
25:57Anyway, Zubair Charia,
25:59the famous central criminal in JIT,
26:01was arrested.
26:05After the JIT report,
26:07in 2016,
26:09the police started the investigation.
26:11The head of the team was
26:13DIG Sultan Khaja.
26:15The police told the trial court
26:17that this was a terrorist attack.
26:19After the investigation,
26:21it was proved that the factory
26:23was set on fire.
26:25In December,
26:27Rehman Bhola was arrested
26:29and brought back to Pakistan.
26:31According to the media,
26:33Bhola confessed to the magistrate
26:35that he not only set the factory on fire
26:37with the help of Zubair Charia,
26:39but he is also an important
26:41member of the death squad of MQM.
26:43The party's leader
26:45Altaf Hussain
26:47used him to kill people.
26:49He said that
26:51Hammad Siddiqui
26:53gave him the order to set the factory on fire.
26:55He made him the
26:57second-in-charge of Baldia.
26:59Another big discovery
27:01that Bhola did was that
27:03Rauf Siddiqui, the head of MQM,
27:05made a deal of 4-5 crores
27:07with the factory owners.
27:09He also put pressure on the police
27:11to end the case.
27:13On the basis of this allegation,
27:15the court issued an order
27:17to include Rauf Siddiqui
27:19in the list of accused.
27:21The police system in Pakistan
27:23works under pressure
27:25to get the work done.
27:27The police was under pressure.
27:29The police has no interest
27:31in doing their work professionally.
27:33When there is so much pressure,
27:35not only at that point,
27:37but since the country was created,
27:39there has been political pressure
27:41on the police
27:43of the civilian or military government.
27:45The police working under that pressure
27:47cannot work honestly.
27:49They have not worked honestly.
27:51But even today,
27:53some people think that
27:55postponing the police's initial report,
27:57making a JIT,
27:59and putting all the blame on MQM
28:01after 9 investigations
28:03was for some other purpose.
28:05At a particular time,
28:07when the people who raised them
28:09started to disagree with them,
28:11they made a case against them.
28:13All their opponents
28:15were against them.
28:17So they bought it.
28:19If you look at it,
28:21people do not trust
28:23the JIT agencies.
28:25But everyone has accepted it.
28:27If you ask a person
28:29why this happened,
28:31he will say that Malik Khan
28:33was a very poor man
28:35and he was taking bribe from him.
28:37In this city,
28:39without his permission,
28:41there was no information.
28:43If the question was about bribe,
28:45the industrialists
28:47who sit in the gym
28:49and clubs,
28:51their relationships,
28:53their approach,
28:55they could have told people
28:57what was happening to them.
28:59We have been working
29:01with 260 families
29:03and 40-45 survivors
29:05for the past 10 years.
29:07Except for one person,
29:09there is not a single person
29:11who has said that JIT people
29:13came and took evidence from us.
29:15Before we go any further,
29:17let us know that in this case,
29:19if a central criminal has not been arrested yet,
29:21it is Hammad Siddiqui,
29:23who is still wanted.
29:25For his arrest,
29:27Interpol issued a red warrant.
29:29Uzair Baloch was arrested in Dubai.
29:31When a police officer and a team
29:33went to take him,
29:35I kept coming to Dubai for 2 months.
29:37Hammad was in Dubai at that time.
29:39Hammad contacted me
29:41to tell me the facts
29:43of the Baldia factory.
29:45At that time,
29:47the Rangers and other agencies
29:49were also in Dubai.
29:51Hammad's inquiry was also going on.
29:53It has been 5-6 years
29:55since then.
29:57It was said that Hammad was shifted to Karachi.
29:59He was not only arrested there.
30:01After his arrest,
30:03our institutions,
30:05not Interpol,
30:07but other institutions
30:09were also told that
30:11Hammad Siddiqui has been arrested.
30:13Since then,
30:15there has been no news
30:17that he has been arrested.
30:23The case went on
30:25and 2019 came.
30:27In the month of September,
30:29the owner of the factory,
30:31Arshad Bhaila,
30:33said that it is true that
30:35we were told to pay 25 crores
30:37to the United National Movement.
30:39He was put in the ECL.
30:41But in the same year,
30:43another important incident happened.
30:45Rehman Bhola, who gave a confession
30:47to the magistrate in the past,
30:49suddenly refused to give his statement.
30:51I have not asked anyone for help.
30:53Neither did Hammad Siddiqui tell me
30:55nor did I send anyone to the factory.
30:57I was forced to file a case.
30:59I was forced to file a case.
31:01My family was pressured a lot.
31:03My family was pressured a lot.
31:05They made videos of my daughter
31:07and showed me the CCTV.
31:09Who are these people?
31:11All of them are from the agency.
31:13He thought that this would
31:15give a way to get out of the case.
31:17But it was too late.
31:19On September 2, 2020,
31:21the decision of the country's
31:23largest industrial factory
31:25was announced.
31:27After 8 years,
31:29the court decided that the factory
31:31was not set on fire but was conspired.
31:33Arrested central accused Rehman
31:35Bhola and Zubair alias Chariah
31:37were sentenced to death.
31:39But four accused were acquitted
31:41due to lack of evidence.
31:43The court did not spare the factory's
31:45watchmen either.
31:47All four were sentenced to life imprisonment
31:49and four lakhs in fines.
31:51How is it possible that
31:53the workers set the factory on fire
31:55without their permission?
31:57When we made this decision,
31:59why did we give death warrant
32:01and death sentence to the workers?
32:03We should be punished.
32:07After the incident,
32:09organizations that work for workers
32:11filed a case in international courts
32:13to take compensation from
32:15German company KIK
32:17for purchasing Ali Enterprises' goods.
32:19The organization lost the case
32:21but the German company showed
32:23a lot of solidarity and handed
32:25a large amount to the workers.
32:27But it is still said that
32:29justice was not served to the workers.
32:31No one knows about the money
32:33promised by the government.
33:0115-20 days ago,
33:03they were craving for food.
33:05No one had the knowledge
33:07how to get food
33:09and how to work
33:11and how to collect money.
33:13They couldn't do anything.
33:15Due to this tragedy,
33:17the families of the workers
33:19started getting pension.
33:21After death, the workers
33:23were registered with social security.
33:25This means that
33:27the pension and social security
33:29are also a part of the crime.
33:31They didn't register the workers.
33:33After death, when the pressure
33:35of the trade union movement
33:37and the international clean cloth
33:39campaign came,
33:41they registered the workers
33:43and started the pension.
33:45Those who lost their lives
33:47can't be blamed.
33:49But the women who survived
33:51or the men who lost their lives,
33:53their stories are heartbreaking.
33:55The women who are giving birth
33:57are very dangerous.
33:59There was a woman
34:01who used to work
34:03and she consumed
34:05a lot of materials.
34:07She suffered from breathing
34:09and many other diseases.
34:11She used to get herself treated
34:13in different hospitals.
34:15She got HIV from there.
34:17She has two daughters
34:19and both of them are mute.
34:21Her husband said that
34:23she married another man.
34:25How was she able
34:27to survive?
34:29There were some young girls
34:31who got married
34:33forcefully because
34:35they had money.
34:37They were getting pension
34:39and they were getting
34:41more money.
34:43One of them died
34:45and the other got married.
34:47One of them got money from his father
34:49and got married.
34:51He left his mother.
34:53He left his mother.
34:55She is taking care of her children.
34:57She is suffering.
34:59There are many such incidents
35:01that I cannot share with you.
35:03Instead of learning from this incident,
35:05the factories in Karachi
35:07considered it a good omen
35:09for the owners of Ali Enterprises
35:11to get a clean chit.
35:13The situation is still the same.
35:15These are not factories
35:17but time bombs
35:19which cost a few lakhs
35:21You enter from a narrow door
35:23and there is a huge space
35:25where you can work.
35:27That is the only way out.
35:29If something happens inside,
35:31what is the way out of that door?
35:33This is a very dangerous situation.
35:35You get such situations
35:37where no work is done.
35:39It doesn't matter to the workers
35:41that the workers died.
35:43They just leave it.
35:45Even today,
35:47if you visit factories,
35:49when there is an incident
35:51or an accident,
35:53they open their eyes
35:55for a few hours.
35:57When the property
35:59is burnt,
36:01the immediate effort
36:03of the political parties
36:05and the owners
36:07of the properties
36:09is to reopen
36:11the business as soon as possible.
36:13No matter what they have to do.
36:15The factories
36:17that export the goods
36:19should have
36:21an international level
36:23of facilities.
36:25They don't even spend a single rupee
36:27on their labour.
36:29Businessmen need to understand
36:31that until you improve
36:33the lives of your workers,
36:35the quality of your products
36:37cannot improve and your market
36:39cannot grow.
36:41The world has understood
36:43that we are a poor nation.
36:45This is the story of Pakistan's 9-11.
36:47What did the West learn
36:49from 9-11 and what did we learn?
36:51Do think about it.
36:53The date of September 11
36:55was the same.
36:57The 9-11 in America
36:59and the incident in our country
37:01have no similarities.
37:03To achieve their objectives,
37:05they moved forward.
37:07In our country,
37:09we should have known
37:11what to do to save our citizens.
37:13But even after that, we didn't know.
37:15We couldn't take any advantage
37:17at any level.
37:19We only suffered losses
37:21not only of those who died
37:23or got injured
37:25or lost their jobs or businesses.
37:27In fact, the entire society
37:29suffered losses and we couldn't
37:31take any advantage of it.
37:33We can't call it Pakistan's 9-11.
37:35No matter how much we compare
37:37those dates.
37:39If my son doesn't come back,
37:41he should know
37:43what kind of people
37:45our children are.
37:47I know
37:49what kind of people
37:51our children are.