The first time I met Saeeda Khatoon was at a general body meeting of the Ali Enterprises Factory Fire Affectees Association at the PMA House, the Pakistan Medical Association’s office, in Karachi in 2014.
I was a rookie reporter. I was fascinated by her speech and wanted to get quotes from her desk so I approached the desk after the meeting. She was extremely busy. Everyone wanted to talk to them, and she was able to know all of them.
She seemed to be the most prominent leader of the affected family. They called her Saeeda Bija. I asked her for an interview and she happily agreed. The long, dusty, and broken road that led to her home on Baldia’s hill took me to her house. The house had one room and contained an iron cupboard, sewing machine, a table and a water cooler. There was also a mat on her floor and a photograph of a young curly-haired man.
He was just 18 years old when he was among 260 other victims of the fire at Ali Enterprises’ garment factory in Baldia town a few years back. His name was Aijaz. However, his mother called him Ayan.
He would return from work and knock on the door to ask for food. They used to eat together every morning. He was no longer with her, so she didn’t feel the need to cook. She survived long on tea and biscuits from the kiosk.
I have known her and followed her every step of the way. She was the catalyst for the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act. Now, such a law has been considered at European level.
Saeeda Baji’s story
It was her son’s payday. She was just finishing her dinner when she got a call saying that the factory was on fire and people were trapped within. After arriving outside, she was shocked to find that the factory had caught fire and that people were screaming for help.
She continued running from one ambulance after another and from one medical facility to the other. The dead body of her Ayan was found in the factory’s basement on the second day of the fire that was still raging.
After losing her husband just a few short years, she lost her only son. The mother and son duo found themselves in poverty after they tried to pool their resources to make ends meet. The money she earned as a child carer at school did not cover her expenses. The compensation that the government promised to give the victims’ families was her only hope of survival. She tried to run from one pillar to the next to claim compensation, but she was unsuccessful.
She was aware of an NGO that could assist victims. They asked her for Rs30,000 per family to register their case in the system. The NGO was eventually vanished after she and others paid it. Some people began to blame her.
She was aware that not everyone wanted to help them, but she was more interested in making a profit from their misery. So she decided to take matters into her own hands. Together with her colleagues, she established a group for families who were affected to wage a collective battle. They were helped by lawyers, politicians, and union organizers. The Sindh High Court (SHC) provided some relief in the form of compensation.
She was able buy a small house with the money from the SHC and also received a pension in the form of pocket money for a few more years. She was not convinced. She was determined to find justice. This was not the case.
She only wanted to spare others from a fate as hers. In speeches, discussions, and press conferences she repeated this sentiment. I could see her shaking her voice and her eyes becoming teary every time.
She realized that her fight had many fronts and included many opponents. These were from states to firms, politics to economics and society to religion. Some social and political forces threatened her with abandoning her fight. Undoubtedly, these elements were jealous of her and wanted to hijack the victims’ movement. She did not seem to be affected.
She represented victims on many levels, including before Pakistani and German governments, as well as the European Union and the United Nations. Because of her and her colleagues’ struggle, the victims received some more compensation.
However, it was under corrupt circumstances due to the poor social institutions and poor governing policies. She wanted more. Perhaps a sincere apology. This is not what the perpetrators or those who conspired with them were able to offer.
After KiK, a German brand that purchased clothes from Ali Enterprises refused to admit responsibility for the fire, citing an investigation report by Pakistani law enforcement agencies and security agencies indicating it was an arson attack. She filed a civil lawsuit against the brand in Germany, and a criminal case against the Ali Enterprises factory owners in Pakistan.
She claimed that people were killed because they couldn’t find an exit. This meant that no safety and health measures had been taken in the factory.
Her case was finally heard in Germany in late 2018. Her lawyers offered her the chance to speak during proceedings. The judge refused to give her a chance and began pronouncing its verdict.
The German language, Deutsch was used to order the orders. Although she didn’t know the language, her facial expressions indicated that she knew it. She was very upset on that day. She preferred conversation to isolation.
Saeeda Biji was an amazing person, and I had the honor of meeting her on several occasions. She was always present at demonstrations for women, labour and human rights. She would always find me, or vice versa, and we would then catch up.
She would sometimes sound depressed and hopeless from the constant obstacles that kept coming up. She kept going despite every obstacle. She knew people looked up and respected her. She understood the pain of each affected family, and tried to fix it.
One of her last attempts was to change the rules regarding pension payments that prohibited payment to victims’ parents after a certain time. She was delighted to hear that Germany had passed laws that required German companies and individuals to do their best to correct human rights violations in their supply chains.
She spoke at a book launch held by the IBA (Institute of Business Administration), in 2021 about what this law might mean for her if it was implemented. After she finished her speech, Justice Maqbool Baqar (then Supreme Court) rose from his chair to applaud her.
These changes were evident over the years: her hair became silvery from black, her dupatta changed from burqa to dupatta and her face got wrinkled. Her ninth anniversary of the factory fire was the last time she saw me. She appeared a bit weak. She said that she wasn’t well and that doctors were working to determine why.
I learned that she had been given cancer treatment in November 2022. I was tempted to give her a call. A few days ago, I came across a Facebook post that said she was being admitted to hospital for treatment. I remember that I needed her to call me, but then I forgot.
On December 29, 2022, I got a text from her confirming that she had passed. I thought about calling her again. It was too late. Now I wouldn’t be able speak to her again. Saeeda Baj, Rest in Peace. The writer is a former journalist associated with The News