ICC Note:

Christians in Pakistan are appealing to the government to enforce the constitutional rights of Christians and other religious minorities in the workplace by guaranteeing  equal treatment and equal pay. This latest appeal comes after a Christian working as a water man in a school in Faisalabad was told he must become a janitor because of his religious identity. Throughout much of Pakistan, Christians and religious minorities are treated as second-class citizens. In the workplace, Christians are held back from promotions and equal treatment due to their religious identity. Many are relegated to working in Pakistan’s lowest jobs, such as street sweepers or janitors. 

2/19/2016 Pakistan (Asia News) – In an appeal made through Asia News, Lala Robin Daniel, activist and president of the National Minorities Alliance of Pakistan (NMAP), has called on the Government of Punjab to end almost 60 years of discrimination against religious minorities, in the workplace and elsewhere, and uphold the country’s constitution, which declares the equality of all citizens.

Daniels made his appeal just days after the latest incident of anti-Christian discrimination in the workplace. Last year, Qaisar Jahan, a Christian man hired as a water man by MC Girls High School in Faisalabad, was reassigned to janitorial work after the principal discovered his religion.

Lala Robin Daniel has followed the case, and sent a letter of protest to the Education District Officer (EDO), noting that Article 27 of the Constitution states, ‘No citizen otherwise qualified for appointment in the service of Pakistan shall be discriminated against in respect of any such appointment on the ground only of race, religion, caste, sex, residence or place of birth’.

Hence, for NMAP’s president, it is clear that work is covered by the constitution, which requires that both federal and provincial governments implement the laws and regulations on the matter. That, however, has not taken place yet.

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