ISLAMABAD: Thousands of government employees from various departments all over the country accompanied by people from different segments of society staged a sit-in here on Wednesday to protest against price hike and what they called anti-employees policies of the government.

The employees urged the government to increase their salaries and allowances proportionate to inflation and accept their other demands.

The sit-in was staged on the call of the All Pakistan Clerks Associations which was endorsed by a number of unions, associations and organisations of government employees. The demands include introduction of a proper structure of basic pay scale and an end to downsizing in government departments and privatisation of government-owned entities.

The capital administration and police had sealed Red Zone by placing containers at its four entry points. However, one of the entry points at Margalla Road remained open to let the government employees reach their offices located inside Red Zone, including Constitution Avenue.

Contingents of police were deployed inside and around the Red Zone. Besides, paramilitary troops, including Rangers, were deployed inside Red Zone.

Likewise, police contingents were also deployed at different entry points of the capital, including Tarnol, Golra and Faizabad, to intercept caravans and groups of protestors.

However, a large number of protestors belonging to various unions, associations and organisations reached and assembled at China Chowk before noon. Later they marched towards Red Zone and reached Expressway Chowk where they staged a sit-in.

Gates installed at old Parade Ground adjacent to D-Chowk were closed and fastened with chain. Besides, containers were also put at the green belts.

Police equipped with anti-riot gear were also deployed behind the gates. The Rangers were called at front when the protests reached near the gates.

As a result, the protesters stopped there while chanting slogans in favour of the Army and Rangers.

Brief confrontations took place between the protestors and the law enforcers at G-14 and G-11 where police tried to intercept them. However, the charged protestors broke the police lines at two places and reached the edge of the Red Zone.

Official of the administration and police told Dawn that the protesters were 8,000 to 10,000 in number.

The administration officials held negotiations with the leaders of the protestors and later took a delegation of the protesters’ leaders to the adviser to the prime minister on finance for talks.

The talks were in progress when this report was filed at around 8:30pm.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Rubina Khalid reached D-Chowk to express solidarity with the employees and addressed the sit-in. She said the government was targeting salaried class and all the classes were unhappy with it.

The government was crushing all the classes on the pretext of the International Monetary Fund, she said, adding that the PPP demanded that all legitimate demands of the protesters be accepted as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the Awami Workers Party (AWP) has expressed solidarity with the protesters and endorsed heir charters of demands.

The AWP secretary information said in a statement that labourers, farmers, small traders, doctors, engineers, teachers, health workers, religious minorities, marginalised people, women, youth, students and oppressed nations had been fighting for their rights since the inception of the country. He reaffirmed the party’s commitment to stand by them in their struggle.

He said: “The party believes that Pakistan is facing the worst kind of socio-economic and governance crises due to anti-people policies of the hybrid incompetent government which is a puppet of the establishment and the global imperialist institutions.”

The Tehreek-i-Insaf government had made tall claims about supporting daily wage earners, which constituted a majority of the country’s population, at the height of the pandemic, but the neoliberal policy it had imposed on Pakistan at the behest of the IMF and other global financial institutions had remained intact both before and after the onset of Covid-19, he said.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2020