Why
is there a religion column in advertisements for sweepers anyway?
By Shakir Lakhani, March 24, 2017
At least Imran Khan
should have said something about the religion columns in advertisements like
this one.
Whenever a local body like a municipal or town committee
advertises for jobs involving ‘dirty work’ (like sweeping floors or
cleaning bathrooms), the religion of those applying for the job is also
specified. And the advertisement usually mentions that the applicants should beChristians or Hindus (Dalits). Though why sweepers
and cleaners have to be non-Muslims is not clear. Who does the
dirty work in countries where there are few, or no, Christians or Hindus (like
Saudi Arabia for instance)?
One such advertisement went viral recently. But this time the
advertisement stated that applicants for the job should be “Shia,
Hindu/Balmikis or Christians”. The advertisers obviously thought that Shias are non-Muslims.
And they are not alone. The new generation of Deobandi Sunnis has been
brainwashed into believing that anyone who doesn’t share their religious belief
(like Shias and Barelvis) are not Muslims and one should stay away from them.
Our mullahs of course have been responsible for this polarisation. I sometimes
come across youngsters who think it is perfectly okay to kill those who (in
their opinion) are heretics.
I did not expect Nawaz Sharif, or any other political leader, to take
notice of such things. They are too set in their ways and too involved in
enriching themselves to try and change the mind-set of people. But at least Imran Khan should
have said something about the religion columns in advertisements like this one.
He did not do so; in fact he blamed another religious party, Jamiat
Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), his political opponents for it, as the Bannu Tehsil
is controlled by JUI-F members.
Imran tweeted,
JUI-F in Bannu promoting
disrespect & hatred amongst diff sects & religions. CM KP must act
against spread of bigotry & discrimination in KP
This revealed how disconnected he is from reality. First of all,
he did not decry the fact that Shias were labelled non-Muslims in the
advertisement. Secondly it’s not only people like JUI-F members who think that
Shias are heretics. What about Imran’s own allies in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
(K-P) government? The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), without whose support Imran’s party
would never survive in the province, is composed of die-hard fanatics who
also believe that they are the true Muslims and all those who do not share
their beliefs are non-Muslims.
Imran should have made clear that as far as he is concerned Shias are also Muslims, but he did not do so. He should
also realise that unless something is done, the next time such an advertisement
appears, it is likely to include Barelvis in
the religion column also.
Even though I dislike Imran’s way of doing politics, I would
like to give him some advice which will benefit him. First of all, he should
instruct all local bodies in his province to remove the religion column in
advertisements for sweepers. Secondly, he should go all out and ensure that the
minds of children in schools and madrassas are
not poisoned and they are not taught to hate those who are different from them.
In particular, Imran should loudly proclaim that Shias and
Barelvis are Muslims and all schools in his province should teach this to
children. After all, his allies have successfully removed pictures
of women and animals from all school textbooks, so it should not be
difficult for him to insert chapters in school books to preach love and tolerance for
all humans. I know that his allies will try to resist with all their might, but
he should persevere. If he succeeds, he could become as popular as the late Abdul Sattar Edhi.
Go
ahead, Imran Khan, do it!
Engineer, former visiting lecturer at NED Engineering College,
industrialist, associated with petroleum/chemical industries for many years.
Loves writing, and (in the opinion of most of those who know him), mentally
unbalanced. He tweets @shakirlakhani (twitter.com/shakirlakhani)
http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/48008/why-is-their-a-religion-column-in-advertisements-for-sweepers-anyway/
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