KARACHI – Contractual workers of the Education Department returned to Karachi on Friday to protest the delay in turning their services permanent, but the police brutally crushed any attempts to demonstrate outside the Chief Minister’s House – tear-gassing hundreds of lower-grade in protests that continued throughout the day.
On Friday morning, the Sindh Assembly had in fact unanimously passed a resolution to urge the Sindh chief minister to utilise his powers to regularise the services of the Education Department’s employees under the Sindh Public Services Commission Act. While the Assembly legislated, protests were already underway and workers had begun gathering outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC).
Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) MNA, Marvi Memon, joined the protests later in the day – ultimately leading the charge to CM House in the evening. In the afternoon, however, police resorted to baton charge and used water cannons to disperse the protesting members of the All Sindh Education Lower Staff (ASELS) Action Committee.
Scuffles between the law enforcers and the protestors ensued, causing massive gridlocks in and around the KPC. More than 13 protestors were injured by the police, and they were shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC). Protests did not end despite the use of the water cannons, however, and workers sought to continue their march to the Chief Minister’s House.
By evening, water cannons were replaced with tear gas, with hundreds of shells fired at the workers to disperse them. The intensity of the shelling was such that offices and residences in the area were also affected, while guests at wedding halls in the area sought to leave wedding ceremonies early since the atmosphere stank of the pungent tear gas.
Over 200 workers, led by Marvi Memon, managed to reach the CM House, but the police brutally attacked them. Some 100 workers were arrested and taken to different police stations. Memon was shifted to the Women’s Police Station, where PPP’s Rafiq Engineer met her to negotiate some sort of a truce. Memon rebuffed Engineer’s attempts, however, and said that she would not end her sit-in till all those arrested were released and all employees regularised.
Engineer told gathered journalists that Memon had not been arrested, and she was at the police station of her own accord. Earlier in the day, the Sindh Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution recommending to the provincial government to regularise the services of lower grade contractual employees of the Education Department. The resolution was tabled by PPP’s Kalsoom Chandio and Anwar Maher, as well as MQM’s Aamir Moin Pirzada and Syed Wasim Hussain.
MQM’s parliamentary leader Syed Sardar Ahmed raised a point of order as soon as the resolution was passed, complaining that the PPP had assured them during a meeting of the ministerial committee constituted by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah that one the house adopts the resolution, the CM would arrive in the house and announce the regularization of contractual employees’ services.
This promise was not fulfilled, he complained. Showing his anger over Sardar Ahmed’s statement, Senior Minister Pir Mazharul Haq said that discussions in the committee’s meeting should not be made public. He said that the CM had to suddenly leave for Khairpur in the morning and therefore he was not present in the house. However, he added that the government stands by its commitment but reconciliation requires trust between coalition partners.
Haq announced on the floor of the Assembly that his department would invite applications from contractual employees within a week, and confirm their jobs after conducting interviews. It is pertinent to mention here that the issue of lower grade contractual employees of the Education Department was taken up during the current session of the Sindh Assembly last Monday, and the CM had constituted a four-member committee comprising ministers belonging to the PPP and MQM to find a solution.
The CM had said that the government wants to regularize services of over seven thousand lower grade employees of the Education Department but it was facing technical difficulties in this regard. He had said that the government would have to regularize services of other 100,000 employees of different departments if it went on to confirm jobs of the Education Department’s employees.
