KASUR:
It is said no pinch feels so biting as the economic one. In Punjab, a few days ago teachers mostly from public sector demonstrated against the changed rules for pension calculation and leave encashment. Even classes were boycotted, and sit-ins were called. It is their democratic right to protest for their rights if any attempt is waged to usurp them. Accepted and granted!
But their silence at the ongoing fierce Israeli atrocities on Palestinian civilians speaks at higher decibels that any attack on one’s finances is resisted the most. Even wearing black bands around arms, considered the most peaceful way of protest, isn’t resorted to, to register their agitation. The idea of pan-islamisation is receiving a lukewarm attraction, and if visible at all anywhere, it’s only on social media platforms, the favourite public squares for couch potatoes. On socials, calls are posted to ban and boycott all the commercial products of Israeli or Jewish origin, forgetting the fact that most of the social media platforms particularly WhatsApp and Facebook are owned by the Jews. The irony is that these social media were timidly used by teachers for their protests.
Teachers’ unions must call all their cohorts to hold after-school rallies along with students to spread awareness of Israeli inhuman intentions to deprive Palestinians of their land. Otherwise, teachers and their spirit to defy fascism would sound bigoted and parochial.
M Nadeem Nadir
Kasur
Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2023.
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