“Maalik hoon main! (‘I am the owner!’),” the mine owner shouts at his workers.
At day’s end, when he sees that the daily target mining has not been met by the workers, he reminds them about his overwhelming generosity and grumbles about their ingratitude. He tells his miners, who he believes are very lazy, that they are leeches exploiting his kindness. As punishment for slacking and failing to meet the target, he orders that all workers be given one roti dinner instead of the usual two. He then leaves for a buffet dinner with some ministers at Serena Hotel in Quetta, where he complains of his misfortune for having an indolent workforce.
Leaving a trail of dust and smoke, the owner speeds off in his Land Cruiser while the coal miners, subdued by the shouting and exhausted by their failure, quietly sit down to eat the single roti with some onions. Their hollow eyes, charred hands, abraded fingers and furrowed faces had anticipated the meal all day long. As they crouch and gobble down food, their distorted existence and warped bodies become more prominent. Their backs are constantly hunched because they carry jute bags containing freshly-mined coal and weighing more than 150 kilogrammes every day. A study on the skeletal problems among coal miners shows that most workers in Balochistan have permanent back deformations caused by excessive heavy lifting.
23 workers were killed in an explosion in a coal mine in Marwar last week
An aching back, however, is the least of a coal miner’s problems as every day, he is exposed to smoke, afterdamp and poor air quality which causes coughs, wheezing, asthma and many other lung conditions.
An extensive study done by the International Journal on Occupational Safety and Health reveals that among coal miners of Balochistan, 93 percent are dizzy, 92 percent are drowsy, 91 percent have lung problems, 87 percent have severe chest pains and 66 percent suffer from hypertension. This is all because in an average Balochistani coal mine, air quality is at least three times worse than internationally acceptable standards, leading to a very high incidence of lung cancer among coal miners.
What choice does a miner have? When he finishes his roti, he drinks water from a well which is contaminated by coal slurry. All night, the miner will toss and turn, suffering through the pain of peptic ulcers (prevalent amongst 87 percent of the workers) and stay awake due to anxiety and depression, which is experienced by 75 percent of the miners. As he lies awake at night, consumed with dread at the thought of the day ahead, he plans how he will use his Rs30,000 monthly income.
The next morning is another miserable day for the coal miners. They wake up at the crack of dawn and pray behind the Imam, who tells them that if they followed religion and worked diligently, life after death will be glorious. The Imam then elaborates how, when the Shias try to mine, the coal disappears, but when the Sunnis mine, it comes easily with every strike.
There are several laws for welfare and safety of mine workers but it is convenient for inspectors to ignore violations
The indoctrination continues as soon afterwards, a local politician comes to visit them and informs them that as Pakhtuns, they are privileged to be working in the mine and that nearby Baloch miners would happily rob them off the opportunity unless they vote for and support the Pakhtun candidate in rallies. These blathering speeches continue in the backdrop, while the miner goes about his daily work.
Sometime at mid-day, just as the Pakhtun nationalist leader is convinced that his propaganda was successful, the owner emerges and orders his workforce to support the nationalist leader. He commands them to strive for Pakhtun unity and evade the notion of a workers union, because reasonably only religion and race are what truly matter. Feeling truly inspired by his own words, the mine owner insists on applause. He is cheered on, for there is no other option for the workers. On his way out, however, the owner remembers to chide a young miner for possessing a phone and reminds the rest that they are supposed to work rather than waste time on such frivolities.
The owner then goes back to sit in his car and calls a Punjabi investor who is interested in the next mining project at a location close to where his mine is. The investor shows concerns regarding the demands for better working conditions for the workers and how it would increase the costs of investments. The investor, having consulted a law firm about the risks he bore in a mining project, starts mentioning to the mine owner that there are provisions for safety, health, hazards and welfare of workers in many laws such as the Mines Act 1923, Coal Mines (Fixation of Rates and Wages) Ordinance 1960, Excise Duty on Mineral (Labour) Welfare Act 1967 and even the International Labour Organization Convention on Health and Safety in Mines. All these legal provisions would end up reducing the profit margins from the expected 300 percent to 170 percent.
The owner, who is fluent in Punjabi, laughs at hearing all these laws being explained to him. His previous investor was from Sialkot and he had given him bumper returns, he says. He then explains that this is one of the best investment opportunities possible with huge returns because coal was already in the ground and he has already received a mining lease using some influence and the labour was dirt cheap. He goes on to explain that the investor will only have to bear the occasional cost of greasing the hands of a Frontier Constabulary major for easy access and give some money to the inspector of mines and minerals to prepare reports stating that all safety requirements of the miners like proper shuttering, availability of safety gear and oxygen passage were being fulfilled. He explains to the investor that even if there was a violation as serious as poisoning of mine workers with gases, the maximum penalty stipulated by law is only Rs40,000. The one time he was actually caught, he paid the Mining Department Rs2,000 and had a call placed from friend in the right place.
The miners in the meantime head towards the mines with their shovels and pick axes. None of them are wearing any gloves, helmets, goggles or face masks. They enter the mouth of the mine is which is four feet high and four feet wide and supported by wood gathered from trees nearby. The miners make groups of seven and sit on makeshift wooden trolleys on rails that take them 4,000 feet into the mine. Inside, it is extremely hot, dark and there is almost no air. The only source of light is an electric flashlight to illuminate an area measuring not more than five feet in height and seven feet in width. The miners take off all clothes except their shalwars and start hammering and picking at the coal, glinting in the dark. Within minutes they are drenched in sweat and they will remain like that for the next 12 hours. They will work without toilet breaks and since there are no toilets around anyway, whenever a miner needs to attend to the call of nature, he will do so in front of his fellow workers in that small space. In the end they each are expected to carry back 100 bags weighing, 150 kilogrammes to meet their daily quota.
Today is different, though, because the miners will be not carry bags but instead, the bags would carry them. As the miners keep striking at the coal with metal picks, there is a spark which ignites the huge amount of methane in the mine. This tiny spark causes an explosion, resulting in the mine collapsing at the end and the workers inside, burnt to crisp, are now buried underneath tons of the coal they were mining.
Several days later, when their bodies are recovered and brought out from the mines, the remaining workers watch their dead colleagues being taken away in silence.
