ICC Note:
In Pakistan, religious minorities, including Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Ahmadis, are often relegated to the lowest rungs of the country’s society. As a part of the discrimination, work places often reserve the filthiest jobs to be filled by only non-Muslims. For many Christians in Pakistan, it is hard to find consistent work outside of being a day laborer, domestic servant, or street sweeper, often considered one of the lowest jobs an individual can take. Please remember the persecution and discrimination Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan face today.
9/24/2015 Pakistan (Chakra News) – The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is well known for its strict laws towards non-Muslims such as its popular blasphemy law, which carries a death penalty to anyone who criticizes Islam. Many activists complain that the blasphemy law is just another mechanism for the majority Muslim population to oppress and stoke fear in Pakistan’s religious minorities such as Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and Ahmadis. However, there have been new reports exposing a new form of oppression masked in the form of affirmative action for Pakistan’s religious minorities.
Recent reports have highlighted that many public and private institutions in Pakistan that attempt to reserve jobs for underprivileged non-Muslim religious minorities. The latest example comes from Pakistan’s Punjab Institute of Cardiology Lahore announcement of vacancies. In the list of job vacancies, all jobs including the life operator, ward boy and security guards are open to all applicants. However, when you look at the ‘sanitary worker’ jobs for Males and Females, they only accept Non-Muslim applicants. Speaking to foreign human rights experts and labor lawyers, we were told that this is a form of direct oppression, racism and bigotry against the nation’s religious minorities, whole are mainly Hindu, Sikh, Ahmadi & Christian.
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