Press release
HRCP convention calls for renewed alliance between labour and cultural movements
19 September 2026, Lahore. At a convention titled ‘Reconnecting Cultural Freedoms and Labour Rights’, hosted by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), participants called for a renewed alliance between labour and cultural movements.
Moderated by rights campaigner Zeeshan Noel, the convention opened with actor Khaled Anum performing verses by Mian Muhammad Bakhsh and Sachal Sarmast. HRCP chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt said that the preservation of democracy and human rights was contingent on a strong labour movement.
The first session, ‘Voices of Solidarity’, featured video messages from fisherfolk rights activist Talib Kachhi and visual artist Imran Ullah Hunzai, and poetry by Nazeer Qaiser and Asghar Nadeem Syed. Labour rights activist Boota Imtiaz Masih called for a union for sanitation workers, while Farooq Tariq of the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee said that solidarity was essential. Actor Samiya Mumtaz traced society’s treatment of artists to hierarchies that degraded manual labour.
A panel moderated by rights campaigner Tanveer Jahan heard historian Dr Ali Raza argue that contemporary ‘hyper-politics’ lacked the institutions and unions that once sustained a progressive tradition. Journalist Shahzada Zulfiqar highlighted low wages for media workers, while National Labour Federation general secretary Umar Hayat described the weakening of labour unions in Balochistan. Screenwriter Bee Gul said satellite television had forced her to camouflage serious subjects within depoliticised storylines. Journalist Wajahat Masood argued that workers and artists occupied a subversive space threatening to the state. Ajoka Theatre’s Shahid Mahmood Nadeem said social drama needed a corresponding workers’ movement, while HRCP Council member Salima Hashmi called for a strategy allowing younger generations to find their own way.
The third session featured video messages from dancer Sheema Kermani, musician Haroon Bacha and veteran actors Mustafa Qureshi and Nadeem Baig, alongside words of solidarity from actor and director Saba Hameed. All Pakistan Workers Federation president Gohar Taj noted that Pakistan still lacked a functioning minimum wage. Writer Sharif Awan reflected on classical music, while visual artist Masooma Syed said artistic resistance often came at the cost of survival. Actor Ayesha Toor described the difficulty of speaking up for artistic freedom in a capitalist society. HRCP treasurer Husain Naqi said poets could provide inspiration in moments of despair.
Concluding the convention, HRCP secretary-general Harris Khalique presented a charter endorsed by participants, affirming that the right to work with dignity and the right to create freely were inseparable. It called for a living wage, safe workplaces, social protection for all workers including informal labour, the right to unionise and bargain collectively, equal rights and pay, protection against discrimination and violence, recognition of cultural work as labour, workers’ participation in labour policy, and equitable access to cultural platforms for working-class communities.
Farah Zia
Director