ISLAMABAD: Faced with strong public criticism for unleashing force on protesting government employees last week, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Sunday said that the government used tear gas on the protestors to "test it”.
“We used a little bit of tear gas to test it,” he said at a ceremony in Rawalpindi.
“Only a small amount of tear gas was tested—that was not much,” he said.
He was referring to Wednesday protests launched by All Government Employees Grand Alliance (AGEGA), All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA) and their allied bodies against non-increase in the salaries of government employees ever since Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government came into power in 2018.
Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Hamza Shafqaat, who was assigned to deal with the protestors, miserably failed to manage the situation as protestors in huge numbers were first allowed to assemble in Pakistan Secretariat, located in the Constitution Avenue, adjacent to Red Zone, then the police used force and resorted to baton-charging and shelling that led the situation to slip out of hands.
The protesters openly accused the Deputy Commissioner of mishandling the situation, saying they were there to hold a peaceful protest, but the DC and other officials of the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICTA) directed the police to use force against the protesters.
They retaliated and locked Q-Block main gate of the Pakistan Secretariat as a result scores of employees were confined to the secretariat.
Heavy shelling by the police on the orders of the DC Islamabad resulted in serious injuries caused to the protesters as scorers of protesters had to be hospitalised.
The condition of those present on the spot including media personnel also deteriorated due to heavy teargas shelling. Dozens of protesters were brutalised by the cops and stuffed into police vans.
The leaders of the APCA, AGEGA and other employees' unions were already arrested by the police in overnight raids at their residences.
On Thursday, the protesting federal government employees brought the Centre ‘to its knees’, forcing it to give a 25 percent salary increase from Grade 1 to 19 on ad hoc basis.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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