A Pakistani Christian sewer-age cleaner has died after three doctors refused to treat him until his sludge-covered body had been washed. The physicians said their Ramadan fast would be invalid (“makruh”) because he was “un-clean” and belonged to a low caste. The word for low caste, “chuhra,” especially derogatory, is reserved for sanitary workers and often used in Pakistan synonymously for “Christian.” Irfan Masih died on June 1, in Umar Kot Civil Hospital, Sindh, 300 kilometers from Karachi. Umar Kot has about 75 Christian families; almost all of them work as sanitary workers, a job that many Muslims refuse to do.
Writer Ethan Casey notes: “Most Pakistani Christians today still do the same work as their untouchable ancestors: sweeping the streets and doing other menial jobs formerly deemed ritually or literally unclean by higher-caste.” Unmarried 35-year-old Irfan Masih, who lived with his family, reached his workplace at about 7 a.m. on June 1. Two Christian sanitary workers – Shaukat Masih and Yaqoob Masih – were ordered by their seniors, with Irfan, to unblock sewerage lines. They were not provided with any protective gear, his brother Parvaiz told World Watch Monitor.
