Iqbal Masih was born in Muridke, near Lahore, Pakistan in 1982.

His family was poor and his father had left the family. His mother worked as a housecleaner, but didnt earn enough money to feed all the children. When he turned 4 years old, his mother needed money to pay for Iqbals older brothers wedding, but since his family didnt have enough money Iqbals family borrowed 600 rupees from a man who owned a carpet-weaving business. Without being asked he had to work as a carpet weaver until the debt was paid off.

The system with loans (peshgi) was unfair; the workers have no rights. The employer on the other hand has all the power. He worked an entire year to learn to the skills of a carpet weaver, but if he did a mistake he was often fined. On the top of that his family borrowed more money from the carpet owner, this meant that he had to work more. The conditions in which Iqbal worked were terrible. They were required to squat upon a wooden bench and tie millions of knots into carpets. They had to follow a specific pattern and tying each knot carefully. They werent allowed to speak and if they didnt work fast enough a guard may hurt them. Iqbal and the rest of the workers had no rights; guards and owners could hurt them as much as possible. I think Iqbal would felt scared and angry. He worked six days a week, at least 14 hours a day. The working area was very hot, because they couldnt open the windows. This made working very hard, and when they had to work at least 14 hours a day barely without food, it had to be tough. At twelve years of age, Iqbal was the size of a six-year old boy.

After 6 years of working, Iqbal had enough. He heard about a meeting held by the Bonded Labor Liberation Front (BLLF), which was working to help children like Iqbal. After a day at work he snuck away to the meeting, at the meeting Iqbal learned that the Pakistani government had forbidden peshgi (loans) in 1992. They also cancelled all outstanding loans to the employers. After the meeting he talked to Eshan Ullah Khan, president of the BLLF. He helped him to get him and the rest of the workers free. Mr. Khan sent him to a BLLF school in Lahore; he had to finish off 4 years of work in just 2. He managed to do this and Iqbals leadership skills made him involve in demonstrations and meetings against child labor. Iqbals six years as a worked affected him physically and mentally. The most noticeable thing about Iqbal was that he was a very small child; about half the size he should have been at his age. When he turned 10, he was less than four feet tall and weighed about 60 pounds (30kg). His body had stopped growing, and he also suffered from kidney problems, back pains and several other serious problems. The mentally part was also quite tough; he had lost his childhood and was made into an adult.

How and why Iqbal was killed remains a mystery. The original story was that the boys stumbled upon a local farmer who was in a compromising position with a neighbor's donkey. Frightened and perhaps high on drugs, the man shot at the boys, not intending to specifically kill Iqbal. Most people do not believe this story. Rather, they believe that leaders of the carpet industry disliked the way Iqbal Masih destroyed the industry. There is no proof that this was the case. This is the story most people think is true: On Sunday, April 16, 1995, Iqbal spent the day visiting his family for Easter. After spending some time with his mother and siblings, he headed over to visit his uncle. Meeting up with two of his cousins, the three boys rode a bike to his uncle's field to bring his uncle some dinner. On the way, the boys stumbled upon someone who shot at them with a shotgun. Iqbal died immediately. One of his cousins was shot in the arm; the other wasn't hit.

Iqbal won many awards. He was honored by the International Labor Organization in Sweden, received Reebok's 1994 Human Rights Youth Action Award, and while in the United States accepting the award, was nominated for ABC's "Person of the Week."

http://myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=iqbal http://www.newint.org/easier-english/child_labour/iqbal.html