FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-011-2017
11 July 2017
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
PAKISTAN: Non-Muslims forced to do sanitary work
In an act of blatant discrimination against the Christian religious
minority, and an infringement of Article 27 of the Constitution of
Pakistan, the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has invited applications
for the job of sewers from Non-Muslims only. Moreover, applicants are
required to take an oath on their religious holy book - Geeta or Bible
– that they will never do anything else but work as a sanitary
worker, and will never refuse to carry out the work.
This is not the first time that Article 27, which provides safeguards
against discrimination in services or employment, has been so
blatantly trampled upon. The government has adopted a systemic policy
of reserving sanitation posts for non-Muslims. On 18 September 2015,
the Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab province’s District Head Quarter
Hospital, publicized 10 vacancies, where sanitation jobs were reserved
for minorities. A similar advertisement was issued by the Lady
Wellington Hospital in Lahore, requiring only “non-Muslims” for
this work. In 2015, the Punjab Cardiology Hospital issued an
advertisement in several newspapers, which stated that “Only
Non-Muslims persons who belong to minorities will be accommodated”
for sanitation work. Though the advertisement was later redacted, it
was made publicly clear that sanitation work was beneath the Muslim
majority population.
This prejudice against non-Muslims, particularly the Christians, has
its roots in history. Prior to independence, Dalit Hindus were
entrusted with such menial jobs. When they left Pakistan in hordes
post independence, the Muslim majority complained to the local
administration about the lack of human resources to clean.
Consequently, the Christian converts from Dalit Hindus were used to
fill in the vacuum. While these Dalits had converted from Hinduism to
Protestant Christianity to escape caste discrimination, the stigma of
being sanitation workers remained with the community. Their Dalit
ancestry remains a distinct feature of social discrimination against
Christians in Pakistan.
Due to the lack of political will in uplifting the Christian
community, the Christian sanitary workers, or Chuhras, as they are
locally called, are confined to remain sanitary workers for
generations. According to a survey conducted by an organization
working for the upliftment of the beleaguered community, “Total
Christian population in Pakistan is 10.5 Million; out of these only 4%
are educated or receiving education, about 68% of Christians are
jobless.” Furthermore, some 81% of Christians are without homes, 39%
Christians are employed as labourers, 67% Christian families are
living below the poverty line, 29% Christian females are working as
maids and 65% Christian men are sanitary workers.
While the ratio of Christians and Muslims working in the sewers is 60
percent to 40 percent, most Christian sanitary workers said their
Muslim co-workers did not indulge in any sanitation work after
recruitment, and discriminated against them. Non-Muslim sweepers are
preferred because they are easily exploited. Also, there is no
compensation in case of the death of Christian sanitary workers.
Since 1988, over 80 Christian sanitary workers have died from inhaling
toxic fumes while cleaning sewers, states a Minority Rights Commission
report. The most recent death occurred in June 2017, when a Christian
sanitary worker fainted from inhaling toxic fumes and was not given
medical treatment due to discrimination by hospital staff. Irfan Masih
was clearing a blocked sewer in Pakistan's Sindh Province when he was
overcome by toxic fumes. The 30-year-old Christian died in hospital
after doctors refused to treat him during the month of Ramadan.
Since 2013, when the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province
offered a public apology for stating that “Muslims cannot be hired
as sweepers or cleaners,” because sanitation work “can only be
carried out by Christians, Hindus and lower castes”, the state has
adopted an unapologetic attitude for such discrimination. In March
2017 for instance, an advertisement
for sweepers in Bannu district, northwestern Pakistan, called for
applicants from Hindu, Christians and Shia religious minorities.
Although officials now claim that ‘Shia’ was added by mistake,
they maintain that religious minorities are preferred for these jobs.
Pakistani Christians’ lack of education is one of the root causes of
the community’s social and financial decline. It is also why they
can only find such menial work.
According to a report by World Watch Monitor, minority representation
in sanitation work in Pakistan is above 80 percent. The breakdown of
the number of Christian sanitary workers is as follows:
Christians also have a very high representation in Gilgit and Karachi
municipal corporations.
The state’s economic discrimination continues, despite a
notification from the Services and General Administration Department
to amend eligibility rules for sanitation jobs. The notification has
amended Service Rules 2003 so that minorities are no longer associated
with only sanitary work.
The UN and ILO’s Discrimination (Employment and Occupation)
Convention, 1958 (No. 111) describes discrimination as “Any
distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of race,
colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or
social origin, which has the effect of nullifying or impairing
equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation”.
Though many Pakistanis can be found doing menial jobs abroad, it is
rare to find any Muslim doing the same job in their own motherland.
The attitude within Pakistan is as though the Christians were in the
country to clean up after Muslims. How can one expect greatness from a
nation that does not even know how to clean its streets and treats its
sanitary workers as sub humans?
It should not be forgotten that the Christian community has given the
country several stalwarts, such as legal giant Justice Cornelius, and
slain human rights activist and minister of minority affairs Shebaz
Bhatti. Their contributions in the education and health sectors have
provided many Pakistanis with the best medical and educational
facilities at a nominal price. The Christian community has also played
a pivotal role in the freedom movement, but all these contributions
are sidelined by the theocratic state bent upon promulgating its own
version of political Islam.
The government of Pakistan must stop forcing religious minorities into
degrading jobs. It should also work on sensitizing society, to
encourage a pluralistic and egalitarian atmosphere where the rights of
minorities are equally protected. It is imperative for a strengthened
Pakistan that all its citizens, regardless of caste, colour,
ethnicity, political or religious association, be treated on equal
footing by the state. The government of Punjab in particular, should
immediately stop the policy of discrimination and bias against its
beleaguered Christian community.
# # #
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) works towards the radical
rethinking and fundamental redesigning of justice institutions in
order to protect and promote human rights in Asia. Established in
1984, the Hong Kong based organisation is a Laureate of the Right
Livelihood Award, 2014.
Read this Statement online
<http://www.humanrights.asia/
applicants from Hindu, Christians and Shia religious minorities.
Although officials now claim that ‘Shia’ was added by mistake,
they maintain that religious minorities are preferred for these jobs.
Pakistani Christians’ lack of education is one of the root causes of
the community’s social and financial decline. It is also why they
can only find such menial work.
According to a report by World Watch Monitor, minority representation
in sanitation work in Pakistan is above 80 percent. The breakdown of
the number of Christian sanitary workers is as follows:
Christians also have a very high representation in Gilgit and Karachi
municipal corporations.
The state’s economic discrimination continues, despite a
notification from the Services and General Administration Department
to amend eligibility rules for sanitation jobs. The notification has
amended Service Rules 2003 so that minorities are no longer associated
with only sanitary work.
The UN and ILO’s Discrimination (Employment and Occupation)
Convention, 1958 (No. 111) describes discrimination as “Any
distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of race,
colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or
social origin, which has the effect of nullifying or impairing
equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation”.
Though many Pakistanis can be found doing menial jobs abroad, it is
rare to find any Muslim doing the same job in their own motherland.
The attitude within Pakistan is as though the Christians were in the
country to clean up after Muslims. How can one expect greatness from a
nation that does not even know how to clean its streets and treats its
sanitary workers as sub humans?
It should not be forgotten that the Christian community has given the
country several stalwarts, such as legal giant Justice Cornelius, and
slain human rights activist and minister of minority affairs Shebaz
Bhatti. Their contributions in the education and health sectors have
provided many Pakistanis with the best medical and educational
facilities at a nominal price. The Christian community has also played
a pivotal role in the freedom movement, but all these contributions
are sidelined by the theocratic state bent upon promulgating its own
version of political Islam.
The government of Pakistan must stop forcing religious minorities into
degrading jobs. It should also work on sensitizing society, to
encourage a pluralistic and egalitarian atmosphere where the rights of
minorities are equally protected. It is imperative for a strengthened
Pakistan that all its citizens, regardless of caste, colour,
ethnicity, political or religious association, be treated on equal
footing by the state. The government of Punjab in particular, should
immediately stop the policy of discrimination and bias against its
beleaguered Christian community.
# # #
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) works towards the radical
rethinking and fundamental redesigning of justice institutions in
order to protect and promote human rights in Asia. Established in
1984, the Hong Kong based organisation is a Laureate of the Right
Livelihood Award, 2014.
Read this Statement online
<http://www.humanrights.asia/
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