A Christian man of 20 years, was brutally shot dead in the streets of Sheikhupura, for daring to refuse to clean the home of a wealthy Muslim.
Apparently Noman Munir Masih had refused to clean the home of Daanu Chadder an influential Muslim because Noman who was a committed Christian was not
willing to work on a Sunday.
Daanu Chadder is said to have been offended by the audacity of lowly Christian cleaner Noman who refused to clean his outhouse. On receiving
the decline Mr Chadder immediately started to curse and swear at Noman and had even went as far as telling Noman that he would ‘break his legs and
riddle his body with bullets.’
Sadly for Noman, Mr Chaddar did not just say an empty threat in a fit of anger but was already planning his death by the time Noman had left.
Three days after the refusal Noman was shot dead by two drive-by-motorcyclists who opened fire and killed him instantly with multiple-shots.
Police have arrested Mr Chaddar as the primary suspect but he has not been charged.
Masih’s distraught mother Khalida Bibi said her eldest son was killed by a man with a pistol.
She said “They were about to leave after dropping off Noman when suddenly two motorcyclists arrived there.’
“One of them whipped out a pistol and opened fire on Noman, killing him instantly.”
Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the BPCA, said:
“Christians are despised in Pakistan because their faith is believed to taint their very soul.
“Even touching one is believed to make Muslims ritually impure and in many places in Pakistan, Christians are forced to drink water from puddles and streams because they are denied access to clean water pumps.
“This latest murder of a cleaner adds to a growing list of similar murders, where Christian sweepers have refused to clean an area or have politely asked for a Muslim to move so that they can finish cleaning the road.
“Quite commonly the perpetrators are never found despite many witnesses, never charged despite clear evidence or never convicted, as families under duress agree to receive compensation in lieu of hurt caused by the murder.
The family have requested financial support as they adjust to life without one of the bread-winners in their family. They have also asked for help towards the legal costs of fighting for justice for Noman. We would like to offer the family £600 to cover the lost earnings of Noman for one year and need to raise £1500 to enact a solicitor to attempt to gain justice in what will be a difficult murder trial. If you would like to donate towards this work please (click here).
Mistreatment of Christian sweepers and cleaners in entrenched in Pakistani society.
whole Christian community having to flee. He asked Muhammad Hussein to move his motorbike which he had left in the middle of the road. Hussein refused,
asking how could a ‘Chuhra’ (sweeper) give him an order. The argument grew into a brawl between two families, and (surprise, surprise) the Muslims
accused the Christians of committing blasphemy. The entire Christian population of the village had to flee.
the sweeper, Abbas Masih, to pick up the dead leaves and flowers outside his flower shop, and Masih had said he would do it in a minute after finishing
off the other end of the street. The shopkeeper stabbed him in the heart, and he died on the way to hospital. The police only filed a First report
on the case after Christian leaders protested.
temporary workers don’t get paid holidays, no benefits, no rights to health care etc. And Masih was a ‘temporary worker’ because SWM treats its Christian
employees as temporary workers by firing them and rehiring them every 88 days. His family were too afraid to file a complaint because of the police
notoriety for harrassing and laying false charges against Christians who come to them with complaints such as these.
in a cycle of dangerous and life threatening jobs that pay a pittance, long hours, no pensions and no health care or compensation for families because
their employees won’t hire them as permanent workers (which would count as civil servants and would mean entitlement to job-related healthcare and
other benefits). They work until they are too ill or old and feeble to work and are then cast off. Sewerage workers often die because of toxic gasses
in manholes or because they are sent down to unblock sewers and the sudden rush of sewerage after they have freed a blockage can sweep them to their
deaths, drowning them in a flood of excrement.
a labour leader with 26 years service for the company, complained and organised a protest against such discrimination, he was suspended under baseless
charges of forgery. He again protested and was told by the director :
All this, of course, was to intimidate him into dropping his demand for fair rights for Christian workers.
them and their children into poverty, because they also can’t afford education for their children, who then also become sweepers. In fact job adverts
for sweeper jobs often specify non-Muslims only, and some even say Christian only.
sweepers are from families of Dalits who converted in the 19th and early 20th Centuries, in part to get away from such prejudice) which has merged
since the formation of Pakistan with Muslim notions of ‘uncleanness’ which is meant to be a temporary state (although across the Muslim world there
is an increasing notion that Christians and ‘infidels’ are permanently unclean) and conspires with the dirty jobs Christians are trapped in to mean
that in essence a religious-based caste system continues in Pakistan. There is no modern sanitation system in Pakistan, so Christians are forced to
work by hand in a dirty and unhealthy job but are denied the healthcare rights as employees that they should have.
incident started when Muslim co-workers rejected her offer of water to drink because her ‘unclean Christian’ hands had contaminated
In a rare but encouraging case, a Christian called Labha Masih, whose parents are street cleaners, passed his civil service exams and was appointed
as a Judicial Magistrate in 2013. Read more (click here)
In 2015, A Christian headteacher was beaten by Muslim co-workers jealous of his high position. Many of the Muslim teachers could not accept
the authority of an educated Christian head teacher despite his many years of experience. While beating him the Muslim teachers told him as a Christian
he should be a sweeper. For full story (click here).