KARACHI:
Under Article 16 of the Constitution of Pakistan, “every citizen shall have the right to assemble peacefully”. Therefore, the government employees who gathered peacefully at the D-Chowk in Islamabad for raising voice for their rights had done nothing wrong. The police, however, treated them with tear gas and batons, quite understandably on the orders of the government. And this happened despite Prime Minister Imran Khan himself having staged sit-ins twice calling it his constitutional right.
With no salary increments amid unbearable inflation and soaring costs of utilities, the government employees were bound to erupt in protest. The government should focus on resolving people’s problems rather than testing expired teargas shells to check their efficacy on the peaceful public who want nothing else than their due rights.
Michael Samuel
Rawalpindi
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2021.
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