Minorities: from the Constitution to sanitation work

Bigoted education equips us with nothing but a tunnel vision. I had a learned friend having a doctorate in Islamic studies from a renowned university. Once, I discussed with him an article of the Constitution that says, 'Only a Muslim is qualified to become the president or the prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.' I asked him why not a non-Muslim. As a contrast, I cited the example of APJ Abdul Kalam, a Muslim president of a non-Muslim country, India. He regurgitated what he was finding hard to rein in: "A non-Muslim stands incapacitated to run the affairs of an Islamic country while a Muslim is qualified to head a non-Muslim state."

All the constitutional bindings for minority rights and all the religious dictats ensuring space and respect for minorities stand null and void when we see sanitation workers, who belong to minority communities, working in drains, sewers and gutters. After all, why are only minorities marginalised for the sanitation work? Even if they do such an unsung commendable service, why are they then stigmatised? The derogatory titles for sanitation workers reveal the indoctrination of bigotry to our subconscious level.

It is in South Asia that sanitation work is culturally perceived as dirty and religiously unholy, as this is a region dominated by racialism and religious discrimination. It results in social stigmatisation of the community doing the sanitation work. Hence, what such a society abhors is disproportionately assigned to the marginalised communities - excluded for religious identity - without offering them any professional choice.

In advertisements, sanitation jobs are specified for the minorities, particularly Christians. Though Punjab S&GAD issued a notification in 2015 against the discriminatory government advertisements for the recruitment of sanitation workers, such advertisements are widely published even today. And still recently, the Islamabad High Court, in its judgment of 11 November 2025, banned the use of the tag 'only Christians and Hindus may apply' in job advertisements. The National Commission for Human Rights notes that 80% of non-Muslim religious minorities are employed in grades 1 to 4. The commission labelled it as a form of 'state-led discrimination'.

A draft of the "Prohibition of Manual Scavenging and Protection of Sanitation Workers (ICT) Bill, 2026" exists for Islamabad Capital Territory. Its article 13(1) says: "All sewer cleaning and maintenance operations shall be conducted exclusively through mechanised systems and equipment." But, non-allocation of funds and resources voids all the legislation and its application.

The Hazardous Occupations Rules 1963 under the Factories Act says that work inside sewer pipelines, pits and storage tanks, as well as all scavenging, including hospital waste, are hazardous occupations. The treatment and status meted out to the sanitation workers stand in stark contrast to what Pakistan has pledged under the Sustainable Goals, especially Goal 8 - of improving the working conditions of sanitation workers. Even the targets 8.5 'full employment and decent work with equal pay' and 8.8 'protect labour rights and promote safe working environments' to be met by 2030 are still a distant dream, given the state's blithe disregard towards the working class.

Though Punjab struck down in 2016 the discriminatory policy of employing only non-Muslim minorities for janitorial work, a member from the majority is yet to be seen doing sanitation work anywhere in Punjab. However, the Suthra Punjab project has reduced manual scavenging to a large extent by replacing it with suctional jetting tankers and desludging machines. The imperative is to expand sewer networks, sewage treatment plants and proper desludging systems, so machines can operate effectively.

Nevertheless, in the recent eight months, 26 sanitation workers died across the country: eight in Karachi and 18 in Punjab. Hark, none of them were Muslim. Without any protective gear and provisions for health sustainability, the sanitation workers, being the pillars of urban hygiene, have to risk their lives to ensure the health of city dwellers. Their deaths lay bare the state's apathy that it has normalised the disposability of vulnerable communities.