by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
LAHORE, PAKISTAN (Worthy News) – Concern remained Sunday over the mistreatment of impoverished Christian laborers in Pakistan, with at least one sanitary worker suffering head injuries after being beaten in recent days by his Muslim supervisors.
Zahid Masih, a sanitary worker at the Ganga Ram Hospital in Lahore, the nation’s second largest city and the capital of Punjab province, “became a victim of violence simply for requesting the salary he had earned,” said advocacy group LEAD Ministries.
“After enduring five months without pay, Zahid approached the contractor for an explanation. Instead of receiving clarity, he was allegedly assaulted by supervisor Tayyab Khan, along with Sameer and several associates,” the group told Worthy News.
The suspects’ names were publicly identified. There was no immediate reaction from the two men, and it was unclear when — or if — police detained them.
“During the attack, his clothes were torn, and he sustained head injuries. Disturbingly, Zahid’s mother and younger sister — also sanitary workers — have reportedly been deprived of their salaries for eleven months,” LEAD Ministries added. Footage obtained by Worthy News confirmed severe head wounds.
BEATEN FOR DEMANDING WAGES, ACTIVISTS SAY
In remarks shared with Worthy News, Zahid Masih and his mother said they have appealed to Punjab’s “Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the Inspector General of Punjab, Senior Superintendent of Police Lahore, and other high-ranking officials.”
They are “requesting immediate protection, payment of overdue wages, and legal action against those responsible for the assault.”
Their plea reflects “the fears of many Christian workers who feel unsafe and unsupported within the current system,” said Sardar Mushtaq Gill, a Christian human rights lawyer and the founder of LEAD Ministries.
“Beyond the physical violence, this incident reflects broader concerns raised by Christian workers,” including those in state jobs such as sanitation workers, Gill told Worthy News.
“Many report feeling targeted and mistreated by Muslim supervisors and senior officers, who allegedly exploit their vulnerable economic and social status,” he said.
PASTOR WARNS OF SYSTEMIC ABUSE
LEAD Ministries quoted community leaders as saying that “these patterns of behavior reflect discrimination based on faith, leaving Christian workers afraid to speak out and powerless in the face of abuse.”
The group’s leader, Pastor Imran Amanat, strongly condemned “the assault on Zahid and the longstanding mistreatment of Christian sanitary workers.”
He emphasized that demanding “one’s earned wages is a fundamental right — not an act of disrespect or wrongdoing.” He stressed that Christian workers “often face additional pressure because of their minority status” in the Islamic Asian nation.
He urged the government to address “this imbalance with urgency.”
Rights monitors note that reliable nationwide data on how many Christians work in low-paid jobs such as sanitation does not exist, but evidence consistently shows a stark imbalance.
CHRISTIANS OVERREPRESENTED IN THE SANITATION SECTOR
Human-rights groups, including Open Doors and Amnesty International, report that Christians are heavily overrepresented in the country’s sanitation sector and other menial or hazardous jobs, despite making up just over 1 percent of Pakistan’s mainly Muslim population of more than 250 million people.
These roles are often assigned to minorities through discriminatory hiring practices, with job advertisements explicitly seeking “Christian only” applicants for sanitation posts, according to investigators.
Groups say this practice traps “many families” in cycles of exploitation, poverty, and vulnerability.
Open Doors — which ranks Pakistan 8th in its annual World Watch List of the 50 nations where it says Christians face the most persecution for their faith — concludes that these discriminatory patterns “reflect deeper systemic inequality” affecting Christian believers across Pakistan.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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