Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and several labour unions have condemned beating and ill treatment of nurses, protesting for their rights, by police and called upon Punjab government to be less heavy handed with female nurses. In a statement, here on Friday, HRCP expressed concern and anguish that nurses protesting for their rights outside the Punjab Assembly were beaten up and police used batons without restraint to disperse the protesters.
It matters little whether the attackers were policemen or policewomen. HRCP said the police action was ruthless and disproportionate to any 'hazard' the nurses were deemed to be causing. But this is not an isolated incident confined to any particular city or province of the country.
HRCP pointed out that protesting teachers in Balochistan and employees of the country's biggest telecommunication company as well as gas department employees among countless others have been dealt with in a similar harsh manner even when they were not posing any threat to public security. Government must find a better method of dealing with these things and by listening to the peoples demands rather than focusing on the use of force to disperse those who come out on the streets to demand their rights, it concluded.
Meanwhile, President All Pakistan Paramedical Staff Federation, Punjab Mohammad Javed Chohan, General Secretary, Maqbool Ahmad, President Mayo Hospital, Zafar Iqbal Gujjar, General Secretary Tanvir Bhatti, Rahmat Sindhu of General Hospital and others in a joint statement criticised police action and called upon Punjab government to withdraw cases registered against the nurses.
They said if the Punjab government does not issue service structure of grade one to four employees of the health department then the paramedical staff would start a countrywide agitation against the government.
The National Trade Union Federation Pakistan has also supported demands of the nurses and said the Punjab government should immediately withdraw false cases against the female nurses. The federation held a meeting, which was addressed by Niaz Khan, Mahmood But, Azra Irshad, Yusuf Baloch and others to support genuine demands of nurses. They said it is a fundamental right of the workers to peacefully demand raise in their wages. They alleged that Mall Road and Hall Road are not personal properties of the traders, therefore they had no right to ill-treat the protesting nurses. They said that the labour leaders are in contact with other labour unions to support demands of nurses who are our sisters, daughters and mothers.