10,000 Ghosts: The Starvation of Landhi’s Forgotten Workforce

By Ethan Hayes.

Introduction: The Human Debris They are not numbers in a spreadsheet. They are fathers who cannot look their children in the eye tonight. They are mothers who have started rationing roti. When Gul Ahmed shut down its core units to fund its Dubai dream, it created 10,000 orphans of industry. These workers were not just fired; they were discarded like industrial waste.

The brutality of this layoff is not in the "why," but in the "how." No warning. No handshake. Just a locked gate and a silence that screams.

The Hunger Games of Landhi

While the directors sit in air-conditioned boardrooms planning their next dividend, the streets of Landhi are witnessing a humanitarian disaster.

• The Medical Cliff: The moment the factory closed, the health insurance died. There are reports of workers with chronic illnesses—diabetes, heart conditions—who are now one medical emergency away from death because they cannot afford the medicine their job once covered.

• The Severance Lie: Reports indicate that the vast majority received zero meaningful support. A worker who gave 20 years of his life to the mill was sent home with empty pockets, told that the company was "restructuring."

"We Are Not Scrap Metal"

The most painful part is the indignity. These were skilled artisans. They were the masters of the loom, the experts of the dye vat. By shutting the units, Gul Ahmed didn't just take their income; it took their identity.

• "I am a master weaver," one worker cries. "I cannot drive a rickshaw. I build cloth. Who will hire me now?" In a market where mills are closing daily, their skills are now a curse. They are experts in a dying trade, abandoned by the very company that promised them a future.

Conclusion: A Crime Without Punishment

This is not a layoff; it is a social crime. 10,000 families have been pushed into the abyss of poverty so that a few wealthy men could buy a safer future abroad. Gul Ahmed has saved its capital, but it has damned its people.