By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ISLAMABAD (Worthy News) - A local government-backed advertisement campaign for sanitation workers targeting the Christian minority in Pakistan has highlighted concerns that only Christians should work in these low-paying, dangerous jobs in the mainly Muslim nation.
Christians said Wednesday that an ad soliciting candidates for sweepers at health facilities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province states, “Christian community will be preferred.”
It was posted by Trans-Continental Pharma, a hospital management service contractor with the provincial government, on May 18, confirmed Morning Star News (MSN), a Christian news agency.
The advertisement came about two months after Christian sanitation workers Shan Masih and Asif Masih died on March 17 from dangerous conditions in sewers of Faisalabad, Pakistan, Worthy News learned.
They were the latest in a series of deaths and injuries reported among sanitation workers in Pakistan.
Sanitation workers in Pakistan have to contend not only with unsafe working conditions but are actively discriminated against along caste and religious lines, according to Christians familiar with the situation.
Ejaz Augustine, a Christian lawmaker in the Punjab Assembly, said that non-Muslim sweepers are preferred because they are “easily exploited.”
MINORITIES COMMISSION
A former member of the National Commission for Minorities, Albert David, agreed. He said the ad gave the impression that sanitation work was beneath the Muslim-majority population.
David added that he “contacted the company's chief executive officer and registered a strong protest against the discriminatory ad on behalf of my community. The official has promised to amend the ad.”
Yet no change in the campaign was noticed on Wednesday.
David said such “a discriminatory ad” violated Article 27 of Pakistan’s constitution and international conventions to which the country was a signatory.
“Article 27 provides safeguards against discrimination in services or employment, but this has been so blatantly trampled upon over the decades,” he said.
David added that the United Nations International Labor Organization’s Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention calls discrimination “Any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of race, color, 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.”
An estimated 80 percent of sanitation workers in Pakistan are Christians, though Christians make up just 2 percent of the population, according to a study by WaterAid cited by MSN.
INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE
Pakistan has come under international pressure to improve the rights of minorities, including Christians, who have often been targeted for alleged blasphemy against Islam.
Numerous Christians and others have been jailed or died in extrajudicial killings over alleged blasphemy allegations in recent years, Worthy News established.
Christian advocacy group Open Doors ranked Pakistan 7th on its annual World Watch List of 50 nations, where it claims Christians face the most persecution for their faith in Christ.
Christians facing job discrimination or even attacks also include former Muslims, Worthy News established.
“The devastating attack on the Christian community in Jaranwala in August 2023 was a sobering reminder of the hostile environment facing many believers in Pakistan. The attack on more than 20 churches and almost 100 homes was in response to two believers being accused of desecrating the Koran”, deemed a holy book by Muslims, Open Doors recalled.
“Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws are often used to target minority groups, but Christians are disproportionately affected. Roughly a quarter of all blasphemy accusations target Christians,” Open Doors noticed.
These and other hostile attitudes toward the Christian faith have contributed to discrimination of Christians seeking higher paying jobs as well as attacks against Christian women and girls, Worthy News reported earlier.