LAHORE: College teachers on Tuesday announced boycott of classes all over the province to protest against pre-dawn police action.

The college teachers had been holding a sit-in outside the Civil Secretariat on Lower Mall to demand pay and service protection for the last 37 days. On Tuesday morning, policemen attacked the camp of the protesting teachers and asked them to leave and also took some of them into custody. The police officials also removed the camp.

Around 7,000 college teachers are affected by the policies of the government and facing a Rs20,000 pay cut on a monthly basis. The teachers recruited in 2002, 2005, 2009 and 2012 are facing financial hardships due to cut in salaries.

The services of the contract lecturers of four batches were regularised and their contract service and the benefits were not given to them.

The Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA) condemned the attack on the protesting teachers and demanded action against the attackers.

Pay and Service Protection Committee convener Chaudhry Ghulam Murtaza said the teachers were attacked after Sehr and some of them were taken into custody. He said they had been peacefully protesting for pay and service protection for the last 37 days. The court had also directed the government to provide pay and service protection but the bureaucracy was violating the orders, he said.

PPLA general secretary Ahmed Nadeem also condemned the attack and announced boycott of the classes.

FAPUASA Punjab chapter announced black day in universities across Punjab on Thursday (tomorrow). In a statement, the office-bearers demanded that the government should immediately issue the notification of pay protection as per the instruction of the high court.

The FAPUASA Punjab executive council strongly condemned the police action on the peaceful protest camp of the college teachers.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2022