Lahore: Pakistan's Punjab province will not mention religion for menial jobs including cleaning. The order was issued by the Punjab General Services and Administration Department in Pakistan following a petition filed by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) alleging that religious reservation was restricted to people belonging to minority communities and hindered their social upliftment.
Religion will not be mentioned in government job advertisements in the context of the order. Advertisements targeting religious minorities in low-level jobs have drawn strong criticism from Pakistani civil society organizations. Critics said that such ads directly drew criticism towards minority communities, including Christians. The new order was welcomed by the Christian community in Pakistan.
Peter Jacob, president of the Center for Social Justice, said religion should not be a condition for gaining employment. "This provision is a blatant violation of the fundamental rights of religious minorities living in Pakistan. We speak out not only for Christians, but for all marginalized minorities in Pakistan" he said.
In Pakistan, 95 percent of the workers who clean streets, sewers, hospitals, schools and public institutions are from religious minorities, most of them being Christians. This is in violation of Article 27 (1) of the Constitution of Pakistan, Articles 1 to 7 of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, recognized by the Government of Pakistan. The intervention of the Human Rights Commission comes after comprehending this violation.
Discriminatory employment based on caste system has existed in Pakistan since ages. Low-paid menial jobs are advertised and reserved for lower-caste and minority citizens. Christians in the Muslim-majority Pakistan lag even Hindus in the caste system.
Welcoming the new order, Fr. Bonnie Mendes, from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Faisalabad said, “It is hoped that this will put an end to the culture of looking down on religious minorities”.