Karachi Police booked 47 government college professors and lecturers on Wednesday after they staged a sit-in near Chief Minister’s House in Karachi.
250 professors participated in the protest held on Dr ZIauddin Ahmed Road. The province-wide protest call had been issued by the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA). The professors said that former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had approved their time-scale promotions but they had yet to be implemented.
Protest rallies have been banned in the city’s ‘Red Zone’ where the protest had taken place. Police said that they had tried to hold talks with the protesters and had asked them to vacate the area but they refused to do so. The police arrested the protesters and registered cases against 44 male and three female teachers, who have been shifted to various police stations.
According to the police, the protesters were arrested to get the road cleared for traffic. The police added that they did not resort to baton charges, tear gas shelling or the use of water cannons.
On the other hand, reports surfaced that the protesters had been assaulted by the police. Reports stated that five injured teachers had been shifted to the hospital.
“We are teachers, not terrorists. The policemen had beaten us with sticks without any shame. They are the same people we had taught when they were younger,” the report quoted a protesting teacher as saying.