On this day in 1995, Iqbal Masih, the 12 year-old activist who fought against child labor, was shot dead by a heroin addict from the Pakistani carpet mafia when Masih returned from one of his US campaigns. 
Who was Iqbal Masih? Iqbal Masih was born in Muridke, Pakistan, a tiny rural hamlet just outside of Lahore. Saif Masih, Iqbal’s father, abandoned the family shortly after his birth. Inayat, Iqbal’s mother, worked as a housecleaner but struggled to provide for all of her. Iqbal’s older brother was getting married in 1986, and the family needed money to have a party. In Pakistan, the only means for a poor family to borrow money is to ask a local employer. These employers specialise in this type of barter, in which the employer lends money to a family in exchange for a little child’s bound work. Iqbal’s family borrowed 600 rupees from a man who operated a carpet-weaving business to pay for the wedding. Iqbal was forced to work as a carpet weaver until the loan was paid off in exchange and was later sold into bondage by his family without being questioned or consulted. Peshgi outlawed: One day, Iqbal heard about a gathering of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front (BLLF), which was trying to help children like him, after working as a carpet weaver for six years. Iqbal snuck out after work to attend the meeting where he learned that peshgi was outlawed by the Pakistani government in 1986.and the government also cancelled all outstanding loans to these businesses. He spoke with Eshan Ullah Khan, the BLLF’s president, who assisted him in obtaining the documents he needed to show his employer that he was entitled to be free. Iqbal was not content with just being free; he worked to set his coworkers free as well. 
Iqbal’s abolitionism: In Lahore, Iqbal was enrolled in a BLLF school. He worked extremely hard at school, completing four years of work in just two. Iqbal’s natural leadership abilities became more obvious and with time he got involved in anti-bonded child labour marches and meetings. Iqbal first spoke at BLLF meetings before moving on to foreign activists and journalists. He shared his own story of being a bonded child labourer. 
In 1994, Iqbal’s popularity grew to the point where he was invited to speak in the United States and other European countries. In the same year, his story and accomplishments earned him the Reebok Prize for Human Rights ($50,000). Iqbal was able to save almost 3,000 children throughout his campaign who were in the same situation as he had been a year before. Iqbal’s martyrdom: The more attention Iqbal received, the more industries in Pakistan were forced to close, putting an end to child labour and enslavement. As a result, Iqbal became a target for all factory owners in Pakistan, as the majority of them used child labour. Iqbal returned to Pakistan to see his family on April 16, 1995. He was shot in the head the next day in Muridke, Pakistan.