Christians in Pakistan face a huge discrimmination due to their religion .
The month of Ramadan is towards the edge, where the people are trying to get not infected by Coronavirus which is the best way to survive in a country like Pakistan or any other country.
The Holy month of Ramadan teaches us all the fundamental decorums that are vital for a prosperous society such as equality, justice, gratitude, etc.
For a nation to survive, the crucial step is to be equal to everyone. As of beginning, Pakistan was founded for the people of Islam where they could practice their religious norms without anyone impeding.
The picture is of Mr. Jamshed Erik, whose ancestors converted to Christianity escaping from the work they were forced to do as The low caste Hindus.
When the subcontinent broke up in 1947, Pakistan was formed for the region of Muslims, which resulted in an informal system of discrimination. Muslims sitting on the top of the hierarchy with minorities doing the dirty work.
Every day before entering the sewers Mr. Eric prays to Jesus for his safety inside the sewer. The work is grueling and he enters with no safety masks or gloves cleaning the clogged sewers with his bare hands.
"It's a difficult job," Mr. Eric said. "In the gutter, often I'm surrounded by the swarms of cockroaches"
After a long day, the stench of his work lingers even at home, a constant reminder of his place in life. “When I raise my hand to my mouth to eat, it smells of sewage,” he said.
A latter spate of deaths of Christian sewage workers underscores the discrimination to the minorities.
In July, the Pakistani military placed newspaper advertisements for sewer sweepers with the caveat that only Christians should apply. After activists protested, the religious requirement was removed.
Mr. Eric whose age is 41, is paid approximately $6 for cleaning three sewers.
Mr. Erics sends his offspring, to a school distant from home so that he could study and remove the blockade that has been resisting their community from entering the other jobs rather than Sewer cleaning. Back home, his house is surrounded by an environment that lacks clean water, has swarms of mosquitoes.
When the municipality tried to recruit Muslims to unclog gutters, they refused to get down into the sewers, instead sweeping the streets. The job was left to Christians like Mr. Eric, known derogatorily as “choora,” or dirty.
While Christians make up only 1.6 percent of Pakistan’s population of some 200 million, according to a 1998 government census, rights groups believe they fill about 80 percent of the sweeper jobs. Lower-caste Hindus mostly fill the rest of the slots.
Mr. Eric feels it is only a matter of time before he dies on the job. But he hopes his son can excel in school and shake off the discrimination that has plagued the family for generations.
“After hearing of the deaths in the gutters, I think about what will happen to my family if I die,” Mr. Eric said. “But Jesus Christ will take care of them.”
“I don’t care about my life as long as I can provide my family with a decent living.”
