Faisalabad: Pakistan’s art industry has been flourishing by leaps and bounds, after truck, buses also became the cultural heritage of Pakistan.
It is interviewed by Pakistani artist 69 years old man Mohammad Rafiq who has been in that field for fort years. He said, ‘I have been painting Pakistan’s colorful buses for 40 years, but there’s a dark side to the industry.
‘I started that work when I was 12 years old. I missed out my education and exploited as a child labour.’
While recalling his childhood, he told, ‘We would put our heart into it. Nowadays the apprentices come and just see it as a day job. My work spread all over Pakistan. But we didn’t get much money per bus.’
Hassan Ghani, Al-Jazeera reported that the daily wage for a bus printer is nearly $6 per day in Pakistan which would not be sufficient for his house expenses. He is suffering through a serious lungs disease. His sickness was because of the paint, the chemicals, thinners, petrol fumes.
Rafiq said, ‘I am doing everything with my hand, by brush. I don’t want more people to do this job. I couldn’t save any money in my life. I couldn’t educate my children. Fate wasn’t on my side.’
Correspondent: Syeda Faiza Bukhari
