Pakistan: Christian sanitation worker brutally beaten up in Lahore

In Lahore, a Muslim family, angry over delay in garbage collection, beat up 35-year-old Christian sanitation worker Yasir Masih and left him/her chained for hours in the scorching heat.

https://x.com/FarazPervaiz3/status/1796110002996105681

Yasir Masih’s father-in-law, Hussain Masih, said he/she found the 35-year-old sanitation worker tied to a chair with chains on the road in Lahore’s Gujjarpura area.

Hussain Masih said that Yasir was attacked by Muhammad Khadim Hussain, his/her son and three others because he/she did not immediately comply with their demand to collect the garbage and clean their door frame.

Yasir promised to fulfill the request after completing his/her official duties of cleaning the streets. However, upon his/her arrival at home, he/she was instructed to clean the roof, where he/she was later beaten with iron rods, punched and kicked, and tied up in chains.

The father-in-law of the Christian family said that Yasser Masih’s primary responsibility was cleaning the streets, but he/she would always accept the request of the Muslim family to clean the area.

Yasir managed to escape while still tied to the chair and dragged himself to the street, where passersby saw him/her and informed his/her family. The incident happened when Yasir was leaving for work early in the morning.

Yasir Masih’s family and friends staged a protest at the Lahore Press Club demanding justice. The police arrested Malik Hussain and two others, although his/her sons are still absconding.

Hussein Masih emphasised his/her desire for justice and urged senior officials and community leaders to ensure that the perpetrators are prosecuted and punished for their actions.

The incident exposed the mindset of Pakistan’s Muslim majority towards the marginalised and vulnerable sanitation workers, most of whom are Christians.

Christians in Pakistan are often referred to as Chuhra (low caste), a derogatory term reserved for sanitation workers, referring to their past as members of the subcontinent’s Hindu Chuhra caste, which was historically associated with sanitation workers.

Even though many of them converted to Islam and Christianity, they still face the same kind of neglect and are forced into jobs that are considered degrading and unholy.

The majority of street cleaners in Pakistan are Christians, and are also called by other derogatory terms in local languages.

Pakistan ranks seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, the same as last year.

Earlier, an angry mob attacked a Christian man, vandalised his/her house and set property on fire, accusing him/her of ‘blasphemy’ in Pakistan’s Sargodha city.