BANGLADESH - A momentary lapse of concentration, and there is no getting away with it. But at the age of seven it's not so easy for Ibrahim to maintain concentration for 12 hours since daybreak every day.

The work seems never-ending to him like the coils of rope he produces every day at a rope factory.

Perhaps, he got his mind off the work for a moment recalling once again that he cannot communicate with anyone like the other kids as he was born deaf and dumb. Perhaps, his little soul became lighter and suddenly he wanted to be free.

Perhaps, it was then that he missed to get hold of a string his master was making.

With full force his master's muscled hand would land on his face several times, leaving a little Ibrahim, who works at Tk 60 (S$1.21) per day, trembling and tossing with fear.

"How many times have I told you not to be absentminded?" Deen Islam, head of the workers at the rope factory, would say as he beat up the little boy defying every law.

Ibrahim's lighter mind became heavier with the cruelty of the world. Pale and downtrodden, he continued work with trembling hands, unable to utter a single word.

He doesn't know for how long he has to undergo this experience under the Buriganga Bridge in Aganagar in Keraniganj, Bangladesh. But he's not alone. There are 39 other children who toil away all day long in four rope factories there every day.

This is happening when hundreds of NGOs for children's welfare and rights organisations hold discussions, seminars and symposiums to ensure the rights of children.

There are thousands of children involved in different kinds of child labour in the country. Many of them are enduring unbearable pain like Ibrahim at any given moment today when the entire world is observing the International Human Rights Day.

When this correspondent approached Ibrahim, he did not understand anything and just gave a blank look. His brother Rahim, another child labourer of eight, came to his aid.

"He [Ibrahim] can neither hear nor speak," Rahim, who works for Tk 50 (S$1) every day, said.

As Rahim returned to his place, having a chit-chat with his fellow workers, Ibrahim continued his work with his head down and eyes focused on the ground, dipping deep into a soundless world.

The Daily Star/Asia News Network

Click the thumbnails to view the photos (Photos:The Daily Star/Asia News Network)