ICC Note: Pakistani Christians took to social media last week to express their anger over a discriminatory job advertisement in a newspaper in Peshawar. In that advertisement, two posts for sweepers required candidates to be Christian. This irked Pakistani Christians as widespread discrimination in Pakistan considers Christians as dirty and only suitable for sanitation work and other low skill jobs. This job advertisement only reinforces this discriminatory image of Christians.
09/02/2018 Pakistan (Christians in Pakistan) – Pakistani Christian lawmaker Jamshed Thomas has raised the issue of a controversial job advertisement published in the newspapers in Peshawar, Pakistan. The ad appeared in the newspapers on behalf of Secretary of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Peshawar, Mr. Bakhtiyar Ahmad Khattak.
The controversial ad said that a pre-requite for sweeper posts was that the applicants must be Christian. There were two posts for sweepers open, both required the candidates to be males and Christian. Moreover, the advertisement mentioned “Christian” under the heading of details.
This advertisement has irked the Christian community in Pakistan, as they term it a violation of their basic rights. Many Christians took to the social media and expressed their anger and annoyance demanding immediate action taken against the newspapers and the concerned authorities of the Peshawar Board.
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