Protests against riot control for teachers

KARACHI/THATTA/MATLI: Teachers staged a protest outside the Karachi press club and demanded their teaching allowances, adding that they will not end their protest until their demands were accepted “in writing”. “While some teachers were released from jail, more than 15 teachers are still in the custody of the police,” said Mehran Teachers Association president Malho Khan Pahwar.

Meanwhile, the Government Secondary Teachers Association (GSTA) took out a rally on Friday to condemn the baton charge of teachers in Karachi on Thursday outside Governor House. GSTA district president Ghulam Qadir and Abu Bakar led the rally from the National Bank Chowk to the Thatta Press Club and shouted slogans for the removal of the governor.

Representatives of the Primary Teachers Association, Government School Teachers Association and Masjid Teachers Association in Matli condemned the police action against teachers in Karachi. Hayat Nizamani, Farooq Qaimkhani, Rasool Bux Magsi, Faizullah Memon and Aslam Kashmiri addressed the protesters at the Press Club Chowk and said that police torture cannot suppress them. The government had sent a summary of the teachers’ demands to Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah for approval, said the protesters.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 29th, 2010.