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PESHAWAR: Remarks made by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak regarding the right of the non-Muslims to government jobs as sweepers has landed him in trouble as a campaign has been launched against him in the social media.
Bloggers have been arguing that Pervez Khattaks remarks were insensitive and demeaning to the local Christians, who normally take up the cleaning jobs as sweepers and janitors. Some even commented it was a shame that the chief minister made such a comment.
Lately, some bloggers have come to the chief ministers defence by arguing that he had stated the obvious as it was a fact that the cleaning jobs were mostly taken up by non-Muslims, particularly the Christians.
Pervez Khattak, however, is unrepentant. I made the comment in the provincial assembly in good sense. I stated the fact that non-Muslims normally do these kind of jobs in Pakistan and that they should have the first right to any openings in the government departments, he told The News when asked to comment on the ongoing controversy.
According to Pervez Khattak, one of the minority lawmakers complained to him outside the assembly that unemployed non-Muslims were not being recruited in the Peshawar Municipal Corporation as sweepers. He said he promised to look into the issue and later made the statement on the floor of the assembly which subsequently triggered the debate in the social media. I said poor and illiterate non-Muslims should be hired first as they have traditionally been doing these jobs. I also said that Muslims recruited as sweepers by the previous governments dont do their job and this is the reason that Peshawar and other cities are so unclean, he explained.
Pervez Khattak, who is the first chief minister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the country, said almost all the 1,800 persons hired as sweepers by the Peshawar Municipal Corporation were Muslims and an amount of Rs10 million is spent on their salaries. He said he had recently issued orders that the 40 to 45 vacancies of sweepers available in the Municipal Corporation in Peshawar should be filled by hiring non-Muslims as they do a better job than the Muslims.
I didnt mean to humiliate the non-Muslims. Did I do something wrong? asked the chief minister. He said nobody could be forced to do a job and if non-Muslims wanted to be hired as sweepers then they should be given priority as they have traditionally held these jobs. Besides, the Muslims hired to do the cleaning jobs are reluctant to do the job. Some of them paid bribes to be recruited, he added.
The chief minister said the PTI-led coalition government had decided to give private firms the contract to keep major cities clean. He said the job of maintaining cleanliness in Peshawar, Mardan and other cities would be contracted to firms that would then decide whether to offer golden handshake to the existing employees or absorb them elsewhere. He said putting to better use the USAID-donated vehicles and machines for keeping Peshawar clean was also under consideration
Khattak
Bloggers have been arguing that Pervez Khattaks remarks were insensitive and demeaning to the local Christians, who normally take up the cleaning jobs as sweepers and janitors. Some even commented it was a shame that the chief minister made such a comment.
Lately, some bloggers have come to the chief ministers defence by arguing that he had stated the obvious as it was a fact that the cleaning jobs were mostly taken up by non-Muslims, particularly the Christians.
Pervez Khattak, however, is unrepentant. I made the comment in the provincial assembly in good sense. I stated the fact that non-Muslims normally do these kind of jobs in Pakistan and that they should have the first right to any openings in the government departments, he told The News when asked to comment on the ongoing controversy.
According to Pervez Khattak, one of the minority lawmakers complained to him outside the assembly that unemployed non-Muslims were not being recruited in the Peshawar Municipal Corporation as sweepers. He said he promised to look into the issue and later made the statement on the floor of the assembly which subsequently triggered the debate in the social media. I said poor and illiterate non-Muslims should be hired first as they have traditionally been doing these jobs. I also said that Muslims recruited as sweepers by the previous governments dont do their job and this is the reason that Peshawar and other cities are so unclean, he explained.
Pervez Khattak, who is the first chief minister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the country, said almost all the 1,800 persons hired as sweepers by the Peshawar Municipal Corporation were Muslims and an amount of Rs10 million is spent on their salaries. He said he had recently issued orders that the 40 to 45 vacancies of sweepers available in the Municipal Corporation in Peshawar should be filled by hiring non-Muslims as they do a better job than the Muslims.
I didnt mean to humiliate the non-Muslims. Did I do something wrong? asked the chief minister. He said nobody could be forced to do a job and if non-Muslims wanted to be hired as sweepers then they should be given priority as they have traditionally held these jobs. Besides, the Muslims hired to do the cleaning jobs are reluctant to do the job. Some of them paid bribes to be recruited, he added.
The chief minister said the PTI-led coalition government had decided to give private firms the contract to keep major cities clean. He said the job of maintaining cleanliness in Peshawar, Mardan and other cities would be contracted to firms that would then decide whether to offer golden handshake to the existing employees or absorb them elsewhere. He said putting to better use the USAID-donated vehicles and machines for keeping Peshawar clean was also under consideration
Khattak
