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Arab News
6 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Stitching freedom: How Hindu women in Sindh are tailoring a future beyond poverty
MIRPURKHAS, PAKISTAN: In the quiet town of Sufi Colony on the outskirts of Mirpurkhas, the hum of 20 sewing machines fills the air each morning as women gather for work at the BRIT Women's Garment Unit. Among them is 25-year-old Sanjana Dileep, the fastest stitcher on the floor, a divorced mother of one, and one of the four women who co-own the factory. 'In the factory we manufacture suits and jackets that are exported,' Dileep said, her voice calm but proud. 'We do a variety of sewing there.' Launched with a Rs2 million ($7,000) interest-free loan under the Sindh government's People's Poverty Reduction Program (PPRP), BRIT has become a symbol of what financial inclusion can mean for marginalized women, especially in Hindu-majority villages where caste, religion and gender often intersect to limit opportunity. 'Earlier, we were living in poverty … But now we are doing this work that fetches us a good salary,' Dileep told Arab News, saying she now supports an extended family of eight, including a cancer-stricken uncle. In rural Sindh, female labor force participation stands at just 10.8 percent, compared with 49.1 percent for men, according to the Pakistan Labour Force Survey 2020‑21. In Mirpurkhas district, where the BRIT factory is located, over 1.68 million people live, more than 70 percent in rural area, with a literacy rate of just 34.8 percent among women. Social indicators show that 37 percent of children in the district are engaged in child labor, the highest rate in Sindh. In this context, the BRIT Women's Garment Unit offering stable income and skill development represents a rare opportunity for personal and community uplift. On average, women at the BRIT unit earn around Rs25,000 ($88) per month, a life-changing income for families in southern Sindh. The garments they stitch — cargo jeans, jackets, and other apparel — end up in supply chains that serve global brands like Izod and NewYorker, through large Karachi-based exporters such as Apex Garments and H. Nizam Din & Sons. 'We have 20 machines right now that are fully occupied as some of these females are training while others are working,' said Mohan Das, a project supervisor. He said the unit is planning to scale up to as many as 100 machines. 'WORK WITH DIGNITY' In Mirpurkhas district, where employment, especially for women, is rare and often informal, the BRIT initiative has opened a new path. Hindu women, who typically work as housemaids or on farms, now have access to structured jobs and a degree of independence. 'The Hindu community here is very poor and women usually work as housemaids in the village so we thought about setting up a plant like what we have established, this BRIT female garment plant,' said Das. Eighteen-year-old Madhu Omprakash joined BRIT a month ago. She is now one of its fastest learners. 'This job is giving a lot of [financial] support to my family and we are doing this with dignity,' she said, explaining that she took the job to help pay for her education and support her widowed mother and two younger sisters. She dreams of becoming a doctor. Another tailor, Kaushila, was found stitching inner linings for export jackets, her arms wrapped in traditional colorful Thari bangles. 'I am sewing about 15 to 20 pieces daily that are of different rates and fetch me as much as Rs800 [about $3] a day,' she said. The factory currently produces around 5,000 pieces each month, earning about Rs600,000 ($2,100) for its owners. The CMT (Cut, Make and Trim) model enables them to partner with larger firms that supply pre-cut fabric and export the finished goods. 'Yes, absolutely, we produce export products,' Das said. 'We bring [cut clothes] from Karachi's big companies like Apex, Emaan, Zohra and manufacture it for further exports.' But the global economic picture is changing. Das says uncertainty in international textile demand, especially from the US, has affected their export pipeline. 'Our business has shrunk and that's why we have focused on local sales,' he said. 'Our female tailors don't sit idle.' Marketing manager Lal Chand said the team is now approaching local brands such as Mama's Choice and Al Jobat Garments and exploring the possibility of building their own export platform to bypass middlemen. 'We are planning to create our own export platform and manufacture products to directly export,' he said. Syed Shahanshah, district manager of the Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO), which implements the PPRP program, said BRIT is among several microenterprises the eight-year initiative helped launch before it formally concluded in June 2025. 'Our ultimate objective is to promote job creation, livelihood improvement and poverty reduction,' he said. 'The kind of awareness this community has got — we are receiving different business plans from them. This project has a future in the eyes of the government and I am sure about its expansion.' Dileep, too, believes the project is just beginning. 'I belong to the Hindu community and we want to expand this factory as this is benefitting us,' she said. 'Earlier my father and brother used to work, but now we too are working and earning money. That really excites us.'
Bangkok Post
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
The art of forming alliances
The art of forming alliances Two new parties have been formed, which are thought will shore up the political fortunes of the ruling Pheu Thai Party in the next polls. Large parties tend to forge alliances ahead of elections to optimise their leverage in working to establish a potential coalition government. Observers compare Pheu Thai to well-oiled machinery adept at building alliances to serve its government formation bids. However, getting an ally sometimes involves parties being fragmented, as the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) learned the hard way and the United Thai National (UTN) Party may do soon. Both parties belong to the ultra-conservative camp. The PPRP was booted out of the Pheu Thai-led coalition at the end of Srettha Thavisin's administration late last year. The PPRP leadership felt the party had been double-crossed by a faction controlled by its former secretary-general Capt Thamanat Prompow, who, along with more than 20 MPs, broke away over a conflict with party leader Gen Prawit Wongsuwon. The Thamanat group's departure split the PPRP down the middle, leaving it with just 20 MPs. Capt Thamanat's group later defected to the Klatham Party, which Pheu Thai subsequently picked as a coalition partner while purging the PPRP. It was widely reported Klatham, led by Education Minister Narumon Pinyosinwat, turned its back on the PPRP after the latter's leadership denied the Thamanat-led faction its "rightful" share of cabinet posts in the current Paetongtarn Shinawatra administration. According to the observers, Pheu Thai got to keep the PPRP half it trusted, given Capt Thamanat's longstanding loyalty to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is also regarded as Pheu Thai's de facto leader. Klatham, despite having a little more than 20 seats to its name, was rewarded with the budget-intensive, A-grade agriculture portfolio and now the education portfolio too. The party has, since its entry into the government, been viewed to be on a quest to expand. It won local elections, solidifying its ground-level support base which will come in handy in general elections. Klatham also went on to win a by-election in Nakhon Si Thammarat, rated as a tough race, where it ran against a strong candidate from the Bhumjaithai Party. Bhumjaithai, too, was geared to spread its wings in several constituencies in the South where the Democrat Party has long asserted dominance. In Chon Buri, Klatham also wooed a former MP away from the main opposition People's Party which captured the lion's share of MPs in the province that stands as one of the East's economic powerhouses. Ms Narumon said earlier that it had come to her attention that at least 20 more MPs from other parties were looking to defect to Klatham. It was around this time that the UTN was reportedly suffering a split similar to that in the PPRP. The UTN was beset by rumours it had fallen out of favour with Pheu Thai which reportedly contemplated dropping it from the cabinet. It was also reported that Suchart Chomklin, a UTN stalwart, had attended a dinner with noted party politicians at a posh Italian restaurant in Bangkok some weeks ago. He later spoke of his deep-seated desire to leave the UTN, a party he said where he did not feel he truly belonged. However, he indicated several party MPs would defect with him if and when he decides to quit the 36-MP UTN. It was initially speculated the defectors would number at least 20, a figure that mirrors what Ms Narumon had cited. But some UTN MPs and prominent politicians thought to be joining the Suchart exodus denied the defection reports. According to unconfirmed reports, Mr Suchart was leaving the UTN and heading to the New Opportunity Party (NOP). Mr Suchart declined to say if he and the group of MPs were approached by Klatham to become its members, although he admitted he retained ties with Capt Thamanat. If the UTN expels Mr Suchart and his group, they will be able to move to the NOP. The NOP is likely to be accepted into the coalition and granted a cabinet seat or two, while the UTN could be purged. That was the speculation circulating prior to the latest cabinet reshuffle in which ministers in the UTN's quota mostly stayed put. The observers noted that had the UTN been driven out of the coalition, the party's circumstances and those of the PPRP would have been almost identical. Klatham, meanwhile, could assume the role of a versatile, sister party emphatically allied to Pheu Thai. The extent of their closeness may play out in situations in which Klatham would contest constituencies where Pheu Thai has not done well traditionally and send in candidates to compete against Bhumjaithai, which is now with the opposition. Klatham has been known to invest heavily in contesting polls, which has often resulted in victory. By defeating Bhumjaithai, the party could do Pheu Thai a massive favour in stemming it's rival's rise in power that threatens to rival that of Pheu Thai. Not a decent proposal With Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's fate likely to be decided around the middle of next month, the People's Party (PP) and Bhumjaithai are reportedly exploring the possibility of forming a new coalition government to rival Pheu Thai should the suspended premier be removed from office. The PP has floated a proposal in which a new government it supports must agree to dissolve parliament by the end of the year and commit to charter reforms by holding a referendum on setting up a Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) to amend the charter. According to the main opposition party, it will not accept any ministerial positions and will remain in the opposition until fresh elections are held. Following the proposal, speculation is rife that Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul is being eyed for the interim prime minister post. However, many observers doubt the feasibility of such a proposal, particularly given the Bhumjaithai Party's earlier objection to charter changes. Some even note that the PP's proposal is not meant to succeed but to make headlines and keep the party in the media's focus. Olarn Thinbangtieo, deputy dean of Burapha University's Faculty of Political Science and Law, doubted the former coalition partner would agree to the proposal if it does not fit in with its own political agenda. This includes the prospect of Bhumjaithai trying to remove Pheu Thai from power and regain control of the Ministry of Interior, a key mechanism in making preparations for national elections. Bhumjaithai may promise former coalition partners more influential cabinet positions, hoping to entice them away from Pheu Thai. These parties may consider switching sides if Bhumjaithai's offer is worth it, according to Mr Olarn. The analyst criticised the PP for failing to do its job as the main opposition party fully and effectively, despite its promise to differ and engage in politics constructively. The party has remained noticeably quiet on several issues involving Ms Paetongtarn, including allegations of land encroachment and her controversial use of promissory notes (PNs) in a 4.43-billion-baht share acquisition. "The PP is trying to make itself look good after assessing that Pheu Thai is unlikely to survive. They come up with a feel-good proposal when they are supposed to hold the government and Ms Paetongtarn to account. "That kind of proposal makes the criticism that they are not getting anything done stronger," he said. He also expressed scepticism over the PP's readiness to form a new government with Bhumjaithai, pointing to the "Hong Kong deal" between Thaksin Shinawatra and Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, alleged de facto leaders of Pheu Thai and the PP respectively. As long as both of them keep quiet on their relationship, public trust could erode further, Mr Olarn said. The relationship between Thaksin and Mr Thanathorn reminds the public of the ties between the Shinawatra family and Cambodian strongman Hun Sen. The "Hong Kong deal" is said to involve a meeting that supposedly took place in Hong Kong between powerful political actors labelled as the real movers behind Pheu Thai and the PP. It was reported that the Hong Kong meeting brought up the possibility of the PP one day replacing the conservative bloc in the Pheu Thai-led coalition if and when it was was to be ditched. Most people are convinced that after the next general election, Pheu Thai and the PP will join forces and form a coalition government. "And the party losing in this proposal is the PP whose move is so naive," Mr Olarn said. Reacting to a possible hand-shake between Bhumjaithai and the PP, Pheu Thai heavyweights accused the PP of political opportunism. Leading Pheu Thai figure Phumtham Wechayachai, who is also acting prime minister, urged the PP to think twice before cosying up to Bhumjaithai. He said Bhumjaithai has consistently blocked efforts to amend the constitution, implying that the party is an unreliable partner. According to Mr Olarn, Pheu Thai is getting nervous as it fears that both parties will form a partnership with the PP possibly looking for something in return. Some 44 PP lawmakers are under investigation by the National Anti Corruption Commission (NACC) for their role in supporting controversial amendments to the lese majeste law. "What Pheu Thai really fears is that Bhumjaithai will 'fish in its pond'," he said, referring to the attempt by Bhumjaithai to lure MPs from Pheu Thai in light of the leaked audio conversation between Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen. According to observers, should the Constitutional Court rule against Ms Paetongtarn in the audio leak case, Pheu Thai has one remaining prime ministerial candidate left to put up for a parliament vote -- former attorney-general Chaikasem Nitisiri -- to replace her. Mr Chaikasem recently attempted to dispel concerns about his ailing health by appearing at a golf course in Nakhon Nayok where he told reporters that the blood clot found in the back of his neck, which subsequently caused a stroke, has since dissolved, and there were no other health problems he needed to worry about.
