Baldia Factory Fire: Justice v. Reports

The latest update

Sindh High Court has approved a plea to make public three reports compiled by Joint Investigation Teams (JITs)L: Baldia Factory Case, Lyari gang war leader Uzair Baloch’s affairs and the Nisar Morai matter. The petition was filed by Minister for Maritime Affairs, Syed Ali Haider Zaidi, in which he stated that over 200 people were burnt to death in Baldia Town fire. The Baldia factory fire is considered to be one of the deadliest industrial catastrophes, which took lives of almost 270 workers. The scars of the Baldia Town Factory are still raw for the families of its victims.  

A Quick Review of Baldia Factory Case

On 11 September 2012, a fire broke out at the Ali Enterprises textile factory in Baldia Town. The first report of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) stated that the fire was an accident that started from a short circuit on the factory’s first floor. As a result, almost 260 workers were killed. The FIA report further stated that the deaths were mainly caused by the fact that the factory did not have a functioning alarm system and had only one exit for about 1.000 workers. The federal and the provincial government at that time expressed sorrow on the incident and instead of taking actions. No effective steps were taken to address by the government then.

A Deadly Twist

In 2015, a team of Rangers and other investigation departments submitted a report in Sindh High Court, which stated that the factory was set on fire by workers of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) because the factory’s owner refused to pay extortion money.  The alleged electric short circuit claim was refuted. The report stated that the earlier investigations had been conducted under pressure from the MQM which benefited from government and had criminal influences at the time.

The Factory Owner’s Stance

During a session of the court in Karachi Arshad Bhalia, the owner of the factory, submitted his video statement from Dubai in which he claimed that MQM was behind this catastrophe. He identified Rehman Bhola, Zubair (Chariya)  and Rauf Siddiqui as the prime suspects. The owner said that workers of the MQM had asked him to pay either Rs250 million as extortion money or give 50 percent shares of the profit generated in the business.  He said a worker in his factory named, Mansoor Qureshi was making all the deals with MQM. Arshad Bhaila told them that he was willing to pay Rs10 million instead. He also claimed that a First Information Report (FIR) was also filed against the owners under the pressure of MQM.

The Victims

The Factory was providing 80% of its total production to the German textile discount chain (KiK). After four years of negotiation, German company KiK accepted the demand for compensation and deposited $5.15 million with the International Labour Organization (ILO). The contract, which was finalized in 2016, is the largest settlement in the industrial sector with any individual buyer outside the court. Earlier, the company had provided $ 1 million to the victim’s families through the High Court. The long-term compensation has been providing monthly pensions to the victims’ families and the survivors since 2017.

The Current Situation

The names of the accused persons, Rahman Bhola, Hamad Siddiqui, Zubair alias Churia and his four accomplices- Umar Qadri, Abdul Sattar, Ali Hassan Qadri and Iqbal- have been recommended for indictment in the new FIR. Rehman Bhola and Zubair had changed their statements in the court and now claim that they had no hand in setting the fire. But the question remains: will a publication of the JIT report help the victims get justice?