A young social media influencer in Pakistan apologized sincerely after posting a Facebook video in which she refers to her Christian maid as a “churi,” a term of derision commonly taken to mean “toilet cleaner” and often used to insult Christians.
In the video, which drew 19,000 views, Muslim teenager Nimra Ali made a derogatory comment about her household’s Christian maid, saying, “She doesn’t take a bath. She is the churi of our house. Are you a churi? … no, no, no.”
Nimra removed the video after an outcry from online users, including Christian network News Net Pakistan, and said she was sorry for her “mistake … These comments couldn’t let me sleep last night. Some of my friends are Christians. I will be careful next time,” she said.
The word “churi,” or chuhra, is derived from the name of the low-caste group from which the majority of the Christian population in Pakistan today has descended. But its meaning has become synonymous with dirty and dangerous menial jobs – street sweeping, working in sewers and toilet cleaning – that are the only form of work available to most Pakistani Christians.
The label has also been used in violent attacks on Christians. In February this year, Saleem Masih, a Pakistani farm laborer, was called a chuhra and a “filthy Christian” while being tortured to death by a Muslim farm owner with sticks and heated iron rods. A Muslim mob attacked and evicted the only Christian family in the Punjab village of Gujar Khan in 2018, calling them chuhra while beating them “mercilessly.”
Christians, about 3% of the population in Pakistan, are despised and discriminated against by the Muslim majority. Most Christians live in poverty, confined to low-paid, menial jobs. Christian women working as domestic servants are particularly vulnerable to abuse. In August 2020, a domestic servant was beaten and accused of theft after refusing her employer’s demands to convert to Islam.
