Police ‘launch attack on’ NADRA protesters

The Karachi Press Club turned into a battleground on Thursday morning when police started baton-charging and shelling to disperse the protesting contractual employees of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
A large number of NADRA employees have been protesting for the past three days against termination of 61 NADRA employees and to demand continuation of their services.
On Thursday, the protesting employees, including some NADRA officers, wanted to stage a demonstration outside the Sindh Chief Minister’s House and the Sindh Governor’s House.
However, as they decided to march towards the Governor’s House, police started baton-charging and shelling, following which several protesters were also arrested, but were later released higher authorities intervened.
Police also used water cannon to disperse the protesters, which injured around six NADRA employees.
Kashif Zaidi, one of the injured who was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, said, “We just wanted to stage a peaceful demonstration, but police started shelling, due to which everyone started running and a shell hit my head and injured me.”
The protesters were carrying placards and chanting slogans against the “unlawful behaviour” of their management, and demanded the NADRA management and the government to regularise their contracts.
A representatives of the protesters said that NADRA’s employees had been serving the Authority for over 12 years under the “unjust law of contract”.
The protesters said, according to a notification issued by the NADRA chairman on October 17 last year, all employees working on contract basis were granted regularisation, but the chairman later declared it as a fake document. “We strongly condemn the deceiving act!” they added.
Not only in Karachi, but NADRA workers have staged protests in Islamabad, Faisalabad, Lahore, Quetta, Jhang, Mirpurkhas and other cities in the past few days.
“Despite promises, higher authorities are avoiding making us permanent employees. We worked day and night on the directives of the Supreme Court and updated the voters list, but in return, NADRA authorities started terminating employees. We demand the chief justice of Pakistan to take action and issue directives to NADRA authorities for ensuring that contractual employees get permanent status,” said Raza Sawati of the NADRA Employees Welfare Association.