A video of a massive traffic jam was shared by journalist Talat Hussain on Twitter, in which workers could be seen setting up roadblocks on Islamabad Highway.
Sweepers Are Superheroes, an online advocacy campaign for the rights of sweepers, while thanking the journalist for highlighting the issue, said that all employees got paid in advance with bonuses before their festivities but our ‘sewperheroes’ (sweepers) were humiliated every year for their hard earned labour. It added in a subsequent tweet that the protests had been happening for the last three days.
https://twitter.com/sewperheroes/status/1209213975549956099?s=20
Social media users expressed their disapproval of the happening, with one user saying that we all had a responsibility to protect and ensure minority rights in Pakistan.
https://twitter.com/roxmiaen/status/1209174921240289280?s=20
Another user directed his criticism towards the PTI government, the PML-N, and the chairman of PPP, Bilawal Bhutto, by asking them if they had any heart. He stated that Christmas was near and these people were without pay.
https://twitter.com/church_passion/status/1209145706696626176?s=20
Development policy expert Salman Sufi also took to Twitter to voice his condemnation over the non-payment of dues to the workers. He stated that it was absolutely unacceptable that sanitation workers had not been paid when Christmas was in a day.
https://twitter.com/SalmanSufi7/status/1209169148913299456?s=20
One user lamented that the workers had Christmas coming up but had no right to celebrate it.
https://twitter.com/asifaqeel/status/1209208498434822152?s=20