War zone near KPC as police rough up protesting teachers, sacked cops

For the second time in less than a week, riot police was given a free hand to thrash teachers protesting against non-payment of salaries to disperse them from outside the local press club on
Monday.

While this was neither the second, nor from the likes of it, the last time teachers were manhandled, the city’s police force also roughed up the dismissed cops of the Sindh Reserve Police who were holding a separate protest outside KPC.  

The police not only used water cannons but also baton-charged the protesters to disrupt their respective demonstrations. What triggered the law enforcers’ wrath was the demonstrators’ decision to move towards the Chief Minister House which falls under the Red Zone.

Hailing from the interior of Sindh, the teachers have since 2012 been demanding to be paid their salaries. Organised under the New Schools Teacher Associations, the teachers have been protesting against the provincial education department for over past three years now.

Appointed during the tenure of former provincial education minister, Pir Mazhar Ul Haq, in 2012, the appointments of the teachers were later declared fake. 

However, they claim that they were not only issued appointment and joining letters but were also made to fulfil election and other duties, but were yet to be paid for either of the jobs. Speaking to The News shortly after the mayhem, SP Saddar, Tauqeer Muhammad Naeem, said the protesting teachers were in the process of a dialogue with the provincial education secretary, and hoped that the protest would end shortly.

On September 13, two teachers were reportedly injured in the mayhem while three were taken into custody. As sticks did not seem to be doing the job, the law enforcers also resorted to the use of water cannons to disperse the protesters.

20 SRP cops arrested

The police officials arrested and registered a case against dismissed cops of the Sindh Reserve Police (SRP) to stop them from entering the Red Zone.

The cops demanded to be restored after they were dismissed from service last year. During the protest, a dismissed policeman of the SRP, Shakir, also tried to set himself on fire but the police stepped in to stop the individual from harming himself.

He was shifted to the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi’s (CHK) Burns Centre for treatment where doctors declared him out-of-danger upon arrival. Later, the protesting cops tried to advance towards the Sindh Governor and Chief Minister houses but were met with a heavy contingent of the police force who forced them to stop from marching up to the Red Zone.

“The protesting cops attacked us with stones,” claimed SP Naeem. He added that the police arrested almost 20 of the protesting cops for attacking the police while trying to enter the Red Zone. The SP said that the arrested cops were shifted to other police stations, and a case was registered against them at the Artillery Maidan police station.

Over 800 policemen were dismissed from the SRP last year, after an inquiry committee found their appointments to illegal. The dismissed cops had on August 16 also held a protest which they ended after Sindh Inspector General AD Khowaja assured them of having them resotred.                 

SP Naeem claimed that the IGP has sent a summary regarding the matter to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah after the August 16 protest but the cops still gathered at the local press club on Monday to pressurise the government. Owing to the two protests, South Zone’s police was called in to guard the governor’s and chief minister’s official residences.