Before the end of this year, the greatest show on earth, "FIFA World Cup 2022", will start in Qatar.

Impressive architecture of stadiums, hotels and other facilities will enhance Qatar's ambition, evoking the history of edifices like the Egyptian Pyramids, Great Wall of China and Suez Canal as examples of engineering and architectural marvels. But erased from history are the deaths of a million labourers in each of these edifices, which, however, is romanticised to emphasise the merit of these achievements, where the working conditions equalled all abuses of human dignity. Many things have changed drastically since then, and today the world is sensitive towards human rights, child labour, gender equality, indigenous people's rights and the environment.

"Football is a beautiful game", and the architecture of the stadiums where it is played is equally beautiful.

But what is happening in the construction industry in WC Qatar, and the Middle East, is not beautiful.

Former General Secretary of Amnesty International Salid Shetty called it a "stain in the consciousness of world football". It has triggered an ethical debate on whether the end justifies the process. For this obvious reason, architects are naturally expected to be reasonably sensitive towards the modus operandi of the production of architecture.

CNN said, "Each stadium design represents Qatar's history and culture". Some footballers, however, expressed in exasperation that "that thousands must die to build stadiums has nothing to do with football".

Out of the 6,750 labourers who died before the end of 2020 since the Cup was awarded to Qatar, 1,641 were Nepalis, and the International Trade Union Confederation estimated that 7,000 will die by the time the WC tournaments kick off.

At some point of time, two Nepalis died every three days. Nepali workers were not allowed to visit their home country in 2015 during the great earthquake to help their families. A group of intellectuals and activists from around the world reacted with an open letter published in The Financial Times, to allow them leave on humanitarian grounds. Amnesty International said Qatar used the COVID-19 pandemic as a ruse to expel Nepali workers. These numbers represent inhumanity and injustice, because these deaths were not accidents but were the result of "profit before safety", sheer negligence and working conditions of 'an absolute human disgrace'. This is the quintessential modern slavery.

These deaths were not necessary for creating architectural edifices. In previous world games, there were six deaths in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, one in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, two in the 2010 South Africa WC, one in 2012 London Olympics, 10 in the 2014 Brazil WC, and 40 in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

The Guardian in 2014 exposed and enabled the world to look at the working condition of Nepali workers in this World Cup. FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura reacted with programmes to help tackle issues of green stadiums and labour rights, among others. All this is transforming football stadiums, suddenly, from football tournament venues to a stage to provoke discourse on morality and ethics in the construction industry. It has revived an ethical dilemma for architects, providing an appropriate opportunity to promote social justice and human rights.

This ideological issue related to workers' plight dragged the late Queen of Curves, Zaha Hadid, the architect of Al-Janoub Stadium, into controversy. She committed herself to work for safe and fair working conditions at construction sites around the world, although initially she responded by saying, "I have nothing to do with workers", and "it's not my duty as an architect to look at it".

Zaha Hadid coming into the picture of the plight of workers in World Cup Stadium, nevertheless, may have catalysed the changes brought about in the draconian Kafla system. This law was removed in 2020 after harsh criticism from around the world, 'but the condition remains exploitative as its implementation is weak'.

Justice and human rights are not matters of mere politics, neither is architecture.

These are just "human".

Migrant construction workers in Qatar, including those building WC stadiums, are working in potentially life-threatening heat and humidity, according to research carried out by HR Wath. ILO labeled the workers' plight as a "living nightmare", human right activists called it "modern-day slavery". Barun Ghimire, a Nepali human rights lawyer, has said that "The World Cup is really the Bloody Cup – the blood of the migrant workers".

Norwegian Supporters' Alliances aptly said that playing in Qatar will be like playing on a cemetery. The Guardian reported that a professional Liverpool club demanded thorough investigation into these deaths, before they go to play in this World Cup.

The issues for the architects are not only what is happening in the Middle East, but the whole construction industry. Architect James Russel said that "architects do have a moral imperative to collectively work with labour-right groups and other construction-related professions to end abuse of the powerless by the powerful".

We should aim to eradicate modern slavery from the built environment and building materials supply chain, adding "human dignity' as an imperative element in architecture and construction. Advocacy and awareness are crucial for this. Lessons can be learnt from a Nepali organisation, "Animal Nepal", devoted to the welfare of cruelly-treated donkeys in Nepali brick kilns. Its efforts brought upon a positive improvement on the condition of the donkeys.

Architecture may be "frozen music" as Goethe said, but it should not be composed from the tones of agony of servitude and should not be blood stained in form and in content. Let the African term UBUNTU (I am because we are) be the philosophical approach for the creation of "architecture with human dignity".

Gongal is past chairman, SAARC Association of Architects

A version of this article appears in the print on July 13, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.