Merry Christmas, from the Street to the Sewers: A Holiday Notice That Became a Mirror
Just days before Pakistan’s Christians prepared to celebrate Christmas, a WhatsApp circular began making the rounds — not with festive cheer, but with a municipal ultimatum. The Urdu notice bluntly informed residents that sanitation workers would be unavailable to collect household trash from December 25 to 27, meaning citizens would have to dispose of their own waste during this period. It thanked residents for their cooperation and signed off with a military administrative reference.
Translated into English, the notice read:
“All respected residents are informed that due to census service work from December 25 to December 27, 2025, I will be on leave until completion. You are requested to keep your household garbage between your door and gate in big bags. Thanks for your cooperation.
This simple instruction — seemingly bureaucratic — carries heavier social punctuation: garbage collection will stop, but minorities will not be there to collect it.
For most Pakistanis, this might register as a minor inconvenience. For many — especially Christians — it is yet another reminder of how essential labour is rendered invisible and how inclusion often stops at seasonal greetings.
A Workforce Hidden in Plain Sight
What the circular does not say — but what most readers should know — is that an overwhelming majority of sanitation workers in Pakistan are Christians, despite Christians constituting a tiny fraction of the nation’s population. According to research and human-rights reporting:
- Christians make up less than 2% of Pakistan’s overall population. Minority Rights Group
- Yet they represent around 80% of the country’s sanitation workforce — sweeping streets, picking up solid waste, and cleaning sewers and public spaces. Dawn+1
- In many cities — like Lahore and Karachi — the sanitation workforce is even more dominated by Christians, and government job ads historically specified “non-Muslim only” for these roles. pakistanchristianpost.com
What these figures don’t capture is the qualitative gap between being essential and being esteemed. Sanitation workers — predominantly Christians — are treated as inevitable cogs in the municipal machine, rather than as human beings deserving dignity, safety, and opportunity.
Invisible Lives, Visible Labor
Despite the crucial role they play in public health, sanitation workers often perform their duties without basic protective equipment and are frequently classified as daily wagers instead of official employees — stripping them of job security and benefits. Dawn
The statistics are stark: from 2011 to 2021, more than 65% of sanitation workers who died cleaning sewers belonged to minority communities. Dawn
This is not hyperbole — it is the real, documented price of cleanliness in Pakistan. People make do with broken gear, illegal contracts, and unhealthy conditions because they have few alternatives. The labor is essential; the workers are treated as disposable.
A Christmas Conundrum
This brings us back to the Christmas season and the viral circular: a terse public service notice, shared with little reflection, becomes a quiet indictment of societal values. While most citizens might lament overflowing trash bins for a few days, what about those whose every day is a brush with dirt and danger?
It is an irony lost on no one that the world celebrates the festival of service, humility, and love — yet here in Pakistan, the very people who embody service in its least glamorous form are greeted, officially and unofficially, with indifference.
Not long ago, a government minister even suggested that sanitation jobs should remain the preserve of minorities, asserting that Muslims don’t do this work. The comment was met with embarrassment — but the structural reality remains largely unchanged: sanitation work is almost exclusively performed by Pakistan’s Christian minority. www.christiantoday.com
A Slap Dressed as Season’s Greetings
So as Christmas carols start to play and nativity scenes are dusted off, let’s pause before we say “Merry Christmas” with equal sincerity to all. Wishing peace and joy to Pakistanis, yes — but also a sober reminder that the goodwill we celebrate must extend beyond words and into lives.
This Christmas, let’s not just empty our trashcans — let’s also question why the people who empty them remain at the margins. Because a society is not measured by how it treats its majority when convenient, but by how it honors its minorities every day, not just at Christmas.
Merry Christmas — to all who deserve it, in truth and in dignity.
Merry Christmas — From the Street to the Sewers: A Holiday Notice That Became a Mirror
Just days before Pakistan’s Christians prepared to celebrate Christmas, a WhatsApp circular began making the rounds — not with festive cheer, but with a municipal ultimatum. The Urdu notice bluntly informed residents that sanitation workers would be unavailable to collect household trash from December 25 to 27, meaning citizens would have to dispose of their own waste during this period. It thanked residents for their cooperation and signed off with a military administrative reference.
Figure 1 Photo via Residents’ WhatsApp Housing Group
Translated into English, the notice read:
“All respected residents are informed that due to census service work from December 25 to December 27, 2025, I will be on leave until completion. You are requested to keep your household garbage between your door and gate in big bags. Thanks for your cooperation.
This simple instruction — seemingly bureaucratic — carries heavier social punctuation: garbage collection will stop, but minorities will not be there to collect it.
For most Pakistanis, this might register as a minor inconvenience. For many — especially Christians — it is yet another reminder of how essential labour is rendered invisible and how inclusion often stops at seasonal greetings.
A Workforce Hidden in Plain Sight
What the circular does not say — but what most readers should know — is that an overwhelming majority of sanitation workers in Pakistan are Christians, despite Christians constituting a tiny fraction of the nation’s population. According to research and human-rights reporting:
- Christians make up less than 2% of Pakistan’s overall population. Minority Rights Group
- Yet they represent around 80% of the country’s sanitation workforce — sweeping streets, picking up solid waste, and cleaning sewers and public spaces. Dawn+1
- In many cities — like Lahore and Karachi — the sanitation workforce is even more dominated by Christians, and government job ads historically specified “non-Muslim only” for these roles. pakistanchristianpost.com
What these figures don’t capture is the qualitative gap between being essential and being esteemed. Sanitation workers — predominantly Christians — are treated as inevitable cogs in the municipal machine, rather than as human beings deserving dignity, safety, and opportunity.
Invisible Lives, Visible Labor
Despite the crucial role they play in public health, sanitation workers often perform their duties without basic protective equipment and are frequently classified as daily wagers instead of official employees — stripping them of job security and benefits. Dawn
The statistics are stark: from 2011 to 2021, more than 65% of sanitation workers who died cleaning sewers belonged to minority communities. Dawn
This is not hyperbole — it is the real, documented price of cleanliness in Pakistan. People make do with broken gear, illegal contracts, and unhealthy conditions because they have few alternatives. The labor is essential; the workers are treated as disposable.
A Christmas Conundrum
This brings us back to the Christmas season and the viral circular: a terse public service notice, shared with little reflection, becomes a quiet indictment of societal values. While most citizens might lament overflowing trash bins for a few days, what about those whose every day is a brush with dirt and danger?
It is an irony lost on no one that the world celebrates the festival of service, humility, and love — yet here in Pakistan, the very people who embody service in its least glamorous form are greeted, officially and unofficially, with indifference.
Not long ago, a government minister even suggested that sanitation jobs should remain the preserve of minorities, asserting that Muslims don’t do this work. The comment was met with embarrassment — but the structural reality remains largely unchanged: sanitation work is almost exclusively performed by Pakistan’s Christian minority. www.christiantoday.com
A Slap Dressed as Season’s Greetings
So as Christmas carols start to play and nativity scenes are dusted off, let’s pause before we say “Merry Christmas” with equal sincerity to all. Wishing peace and joy to Pakistanis, yes — but also a sober reminder that the goodwill we celebrate must extend beyond words and into lives.
This Christmas, let’s not just empty our trashcans — let’s also question why the people who empty them remain at the margins. Because a society is not measured by how it treats its majority when convenient, but by how it honors its minorities every day, not just at Christmas.
Merry Christmas — to all who deserve it, in truth and in dignity.
