All of a sudden: Visually-impaired persons end sit-in

Metro bus and city district government authorities express ignorance about end of protest

LAHORE: Dozens of visually-impaired persons who had been staging a sit-in at Metro Bus Service near Kalma Chowk for over a week disappeared mysteriously on Saturday night.

The metro bus authority and the City District Government expressed ignorance about their leaving the venue. The metro bus service resumed its operations fully on Sunday as it remained interrupted for over a week causing not only nuisance to the commuters but also a huge financial loss to the government’s exchequer.

A group of the protesters from different districts of Punjab had gathered outside the Lahore Press Club (LPC) on Saturday (May 12) and staged a sit-in for their rights. After few hours of the protest, when no authorities responded to their demands, they headed towards Kalma Chowk Bus Station of the metro, their favourite spot for the last few years.

The protesters continued staging a sit-in day and night for over a week. Their sit-in had disrupted the flow of the bus service and caused a massive nuisance to the thousands of commuters who used to travel throughout the city using the service.

The protesters described their demands as jobs to all the visually-impaired persons throughout the province, regularisation of those working on daily wages and raise in their salaries.

During initial days of their sit-in, different dignitaries and representatives of the government departments tried to conduct negotiations with them but they failed to convince the protesters. Later, the authorities gave up their efforts and left them wherever they were.

On Saturday night, the protesters disappeared all of a sudden. After 10pm, they left the place and reportedly went back to their homes.

This is not the first time the protesters have staged a sit-in and protested in Lahore. They have been protesting time and again since 2014 for their demands. In 2014, their issue had gained nationwide flash when their rally towards Mall Road from Lahore Press Club allegedly was tortured by police. Police had tried to stop them from moving towards Mall Road as there was a VVIP movement ie president of Pakistan had to pass through the thoroughfare. Many police officers including a DSP were suspended for this torture. After 2014, they have been coming on roads again and again after intervals of few months.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2018.