Pakistani Christian janitors protest over non-payment of salaries

ASSIST News Service (ANS)
www.assistnews.net
Monday, September 21, 2009

Pakistani Christian janitors protest over non-payment of salaries
Three sanitary workers suspended for demanding their pay

By Dan Wooding and Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special to ASSIST News Service
BAHAWALPUR, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- As another sign of bias against minorities in Pakistan, the Christian janitorial workers of Bahawalpur have been denied salaries during the Muslim Eid (Muslim religious festival) whereas the authority ensured disbursement of salaries to the Muslim staff well ahead of Eid.
Angry janitors on Monday, September 21, 2009 staged a protest rally starting from Khairpur crossing and terminating in Alipur. The protesters, wearing black bands around their arms, shouted slogans against Tehsil Municipal authorities and demanded that they be given their salaries. They said they would not work until the salaries were disbursed to them.
ANS has learned that the Tehsil Municipal Officer has suspended three workers for raising their voices over non-payment of salaries.
Christian Advocate Lazar Nayeer from Bahawalpur, who is also member of Tehsil (administrative division) Council, said that in a recent recruitment 173 Muslim sanitary workers were employed on daily wages. The remaining 50 temporary jobs were allocated between Christians and Muslims, with approx 20 of those going to Christians.
Supervision of the sanitary work is assigned to Muslims sanitary workers who are actually appointed to do janitorial work, he pointed out.
He alleged that the authority has recruited Muslims as “ghost” sanitary workers. Pointing to the stigma attached to the sanitary work in Pakistan, Nayeer said Muslims do not do sanitary work after getting recruited as sanitary workers.
“They are often given other jobs like gardening, driving etc.,” he alleged.
Nayeer went on to say that those who actually do sanitary work in Bahawalpur are Christians and Hindus. The Christian sanitary workers, he said, have often complained of authority’s discriminatory attitude towards them but their grievances have not been addressed by the authority.
He stated that instead of giving permanent jobs to those Christian sanitary workers who are working on daily wages the authority allegedly recruits Muslims in permanent positions. He also stated that the Christian sanitary workers have long been demanding that the Muslim sanitary workers be sacked and their jobs should be given to the people who want to work.
Asked to elaborate on the general problems facing sanitary workers in Pakistan, he said they often complain that they are forced to work for long hours. “They are not given paid annual holidays,” he added.
He said that most of the Christian sanitary workers are not given their full salaries, alleging that part of their salaries is kept by those who disburse salaries.
He also said that the municipal authority often delay Christian sanitary workers’ salaries. He said those working on daily wages and ad hoc basis mostly get salaries after passage of several months.
Professor Anjum James Paul said that sanitary workers, the lowest of the low, in Pakistan are expected to work long hours in general but the Muslim religious festivals mean more work for them.

“They work hard without cleaning masks and other sanitation equipment and yet do not get paid on time,” Professor Anjum James Paul told ANS.
The sanitary workers, he said have long been demanding equipment like masks but the authority has not heeded to their claims.
The absence of masks and other equipment in the past has caused deaths of cleaners, said the human rights activist.

“They live in slums in grinding poverty and face acute discrimination from majority Muslims,” said Professor Anjum.
Deprived of basic civic and health amenities they become easy victim of religious intolerance, exploitation and oppression, he maintained
Mr. Paul said that women Christian janitors have long been demanding that they should not be expected to work in public places as it leaves them vulnerable to sexual harassment but the authority has not taken any notice to their grave concern.
He said Muslim sanitary workers, in connivance with the municipal authority’s officers, do not work because they want to perpetuate this impression that only the Christians do janitorial work.
He added: “If these Muslim sanitary workers begin doing sanitary work instead of taking salaries for the work they never do then it will not only improve sanitation conditions in the country but it would also lessen the burden on working Christian janitors. Perhaps in this way Christians would no longer be stigmatized because of their menial profession.”

He criticized government and private sector departments for placing advertisements in newspapers entitled: “Christian janitors required.”
“If the job is only being advertised for Christians then why do they recruit Muslims and if Muslims are recruited then why they are not directed to do janitorial work?” Mr. Paul asked.
The professor alleged that a Muslim prayer leader of Sumandri, a small town in the district of Faisalabad, has been recruited as a sanitary worker but does not do sanitary work.

“This is an egregious violation of human rights,” said Paul, referring to alleged content of ads for janitors.
He termed it as a conspiracy to fuel impression that Christians are only worthy of janitorial work.

“Pakistani Christians,” he said, “have proven their talent in armed forces, health, education, and wherever they were allowed to grow.”