Several injured as KP police break up teachers’ protest

PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: Many teachers sustained injuries when police broke the protest of primary school teachers and resorted to baton-charge and teargas shelling on Thursday.

The ambulances of Edhi Foundation and vehicles of media outlets were also damaged during pelting of stones at the police by the protesting teachers outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly building.

The All Primary Teachers Association (APTA) announced the closure of schools today to protest against the government and police action. The teachers from across the province came to Peshawar and staged a sit-in outside the Provincial Assembly for hours.

The protesters had blocked the Khyber Road on both sides, which caused huge gridlocks on almost all the roads and motorists and pedestrians faced great hardships. The police asked the protesters to open the road but they did not agree, which prompted the former to baton-charge and use teargas shells against the latter. A number of teachers as well as cops sustained injuries in the stampede during the police action.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Thursday said the assault and pelting of stones on teachers by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police in Peshawar was “condemnable and shameful”. “Imran Khan, who seeks Haqeeqi Azadi under the guise of so-called conspiracy, is stoning the teachers in KP on demanding salaries,” she said in a news statement.