Pakistani Christians condemns government’s systemic discrimination

Pakistani Christians have condemned a job advertisement published on September 16, 2015 by the Punjab Institute of Cardiology. It said that only non-Muslim males and females will be appointed as sanitary workers (sweepers), whereas the jobs of security guard, maids or ward boy did not indicate any religious specification. 

CLAAS believes that such adverts are discriminatory and the government must take action against those who have been involved in the framing of such controversial policy against non-Muslims in Punjab, because such policies and statements are against equality and could promote hatred against non-Muslims who are already indigenous and vulnerable groups and suffering because of government’s’ discriminatory policies.

CLAAS also believes that all humans are made equal and non-Muslims should not be considered inferior on basis of religion and singled out for particularly menial jobs. Though non-Muslims are a minority, they have been doing a great job since the partition of the Pakistan and have contributed in various fields such as education, healthcare, defense, human rights, the entertainment industry and other developmental sectors. 

The young people from the non-Muslim community despite of less opportunity are ready to compete in public sector employment with their highly qualified academics. There is a very long list of the bureaucrats, generals, presidents and prime ministers who have studied in non-Muslim schools and colleges and have a lot of respect for those communities and institutions. 

The Government of Pakistan has already agreed to achieve sustainable development goals (SDG) goals by 2030. In the light of SDG goals, individuals will be provided with decent jobs without any inequality. The above mentioned job advertisement is a clear indication of religious discrimination, in which, non-Muslims are stigmatised and treated as inferior to Muslims, violating their human rights. 

CLAAS has demanded that the Punjab Institute of Cardiology should withdraw the respective advertisement, submit an apology and take necessary steps to ensure that this mistake is not repeated. The human rights commission of Pakistan and The Chief Minister Punjab, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, should also take notice of the situation where Pakistan’s name can be maligned because of a few people’s own ideas, and ask them for clarification. - See more at: http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/detail.php?hnewsid=5620#sthash.Ivbvuu73.dpuf