Two protests bring City traffic to a standstill

LAHORE

Traffic came to a standstill for the whole day in the provincial metropolis due to two protests by the students of BZU Lahore Campus on Canal Road and by the blind on the route of Metro Bus near Kalma Chowk, adding to road users’ woes. 

The protests aggravated problems for the Lahorites who are already suffering from massive traffic jams due to construction work on Orange Line Train. Police and City traffic police badly failed to maintain law and order and smooth traffic flow. 

Long queues of vehicles were witnessed on Mall Road, Canal Road, Jail Road, Ferozepur Road and its linking arteries. The protests started in the morning and continued till evening. A number of ambulances were stuck in the traffic. 

Dozens of visually impaired persons, who gathered from different districts of Punjab, staged a protest for their demands on Ferozepur Road, staged a sit-in on Metro Bus track near Kalma Chowk and blocked the service. They chanted slogans against the government and in favour of their demands. The slogans were “sada haq aethay rakh” and “CM wada nibhao”. 

A delegation of CCPO Amin Wains and DCO Muhammad Usman met with the protesters at around 2pm and held negotiations with a five-member committee of protesters but they could not reach a conclusion. The protesters stopped their protest for a brief period, but gathered again on the news that negotiations had failed. 

The protest affected the Metro Bus operation and caused a huge traffic jam on Ferozepur Road, Barkat Market, Wahdat Road and other adjacent roads. The protesters gathered from different cities of Punjab including Jhang, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Lahore, Gujranwala and other cities at around 9am. They were carrying banners and placards with slogans “nabeena afrad ko jobs 3pc quota ka mutabiq do”. 

They were carrying loudspeakers with them. Their leaders gave instructions to the protesters on the speaker and used for raising slogans. 

Riaz Ahmad, a graduate from Al-Faisal Blind Center Faisalabad, said he had jobless for three years after completing his studies. He said the government had promised them jobs but were not fulfilling their demands. 

Muhammad Amir, a graduate and resident of Jhang, said those who were given jobs were on daily wages. He said they demanded contract for them too.

Muhammad Javed, a graduate from GCU Lahore, said they demanded permanent jobs for those employees who were having contract. 

Hafiz Muzammil, a protester and a member of the committee to negotiate with DCO and CCPO, said there were more than 1,500 graduates of their community across the province. He said most of the seats of 3pc of job quota specified by the government for special persons were vacant. He said a very few blind people were given jobs from this quota. Most of the jobs were occupied by physically impaired and deaf people, he added. 

He said jobs from scale 1-15 were specified in job-quota for special people. The government did not grant them (blind people) jobs above the grade four, he said. 

He said their demands were to grant jobs to all blind people according to their qualification. Daily wage employees should be given contracts and those on contract should be made permanent, he added.

The protesters said their negotiations failed because DCO could not solve their problems. He said the DCOs of different cities caused problems and hurdles for them. He said they had protested a year before too for their demands and had ended their protest after some promises from the government. He said whenever they went to the DCOs for their demands, they did not listen to them. He said they would not even meet them. Hafiz Muzammal said they would continue protest till their demands were not accepted. 

A member of the negotiation committee said they would end their protest only after issuance of a directive from the CM for fulfillment of their demands. He said their talks failed because the authorities were promising them lollypop and were not doing anything concrete. He said they could not end their protest without something substantial because their friends had come from far-flung areas like Rajanpur.

An official of Metro Bus said the protesters had blocked the road at around 9am following which the service was suspended to avoid any untoward incident. However, later the blind people staged a sit-in on metro bus track and halted bus operation that caused great inconvenience to passengers. He said the authority had continued bus operation between Qaddafi Stadium and Shahdara. The route remained closed for a long time. 

Meanwhile, students of BZU Lahore Campus blocked traffic on Canal Road for their demands. They said they would not end their protest till the government would affiliate the campus with the main university and issue degrees accordingly. Senior police officers including SP, Model Town, Mustansir Feroz, reached the scene and held dialogue with the protesters. The traffic was cleared at 6 pm. 

Moreover, the traffic was clogged due to the protocol of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Mall Road. Several ambulances were stuck in the traffic mess while children and families remained stuck on roads at school closing hours.

Chief Traffic Officer Tayyab Cheema had appointed two DSPs, four special squads, 14 patrolling officers and 116 traffic wardens to maintain flow of traffic during the protest at Canal Road and Ferozepur Road but to no avail. The wardens set diversions on roads and Chowks leading to the protest sites and diverted the traffic to adjacent roads. Heavy contingent of police from nearby police stations also reached the incident place on information to maintain law and order.

Zaeem: Spokesman for the Punjab government Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri has said that the Punjab government is taking all possible steps for the rehabilitation of disabled persons. In a statement, he said that under a comprehensive strategy of Social Welfare & Bait-ul-Maal Department, steps are being taken for resolving problems of special persons and providing them educational facilities, technical education and employment. He said that three percent quota allocated for special persons was being implemented speedily. He said that 3,500 vacancies had been advertised so far and jobs had been provided to 1,700 special persons in various government institutions. He said that blind, physically handicapped and the deaf persons had been included in special persons. Moreover, 590 blind persons are working on daily wages in various departments. 

He said that the quota allocated for employment of disabled persons is also being implemented in various private institutions. Zaeem Qadri said that 36 sahulat centres hade been set up in various districts for resolving their problems. He said that one seat had been reserved in every institution for higher education (MPhil, PhD). He said that a wheelchair was also given by the government on completing degree. Zaeem Qadri said that permission of a helper has also been given to disabled persons in competitive examinations. He said that special ID cards are being issued to disabled persons so that they should not feel any inconvenience while proving their identity. He said that 50 percent concession is being given in all fares whereas import of special cars for disabled persons has been exempted from duty. Spokesman Punjab government said that free treatment facility is being provided to disabled persons at all government hospitals and dispensaries and they are being given 10 years relaxation age for getting government jobs.