Pensioners’ woes: Five injured, 12 arrested in police assault

The former TIP employees were protesting for raise in pensions.

HARIPUR:

Five former employees of the Telephone Industries of Pakistan (TIP) were injured and 12 arrested when police assaulted a protest here on Thursday.

More than 300 retired employees of the TIP blocked the Hassanabdal-Abbottabad Road (Grand Trunk Road) for more than two hours, demanding that their pensions be increased.

In order to press for their demands, the retired employees gathered near Tank Chowk and blocked the road for two hours, creating long queues of vehicles on both sides of the road.

During the protest, TIP Pensioners Association President Gulfraz Awan and General Secretary Ghulam Mustafa Asim said that the employees had served the organisation for several years with dedication but they were being treated unfairly after their retirement.

They said that the TIP has not raised their pensions for the past nine years on the “pretext” of the organisation facing a financial crisis.

The retired employees of BPS 1 to 16 are also deprived of their rights to free medical treatment at the TIP Hospital, while those employees who retired with BPS 17 and above are able to avail the facility, they added.

Haripur District Police Officer Muhammad Ali Gandapur requested the pensioners to open the road for traffic.

When they refused, the police assaulted the protesters to clear the road, injuring five elderly people.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2011.