The Punjab Teachers’ Union (PTU) on Monday postponed its protest – scheduled to take place in front of the Punjab Assembly Tuesday (today) – in the wake of a protest call given earlier by the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).
The PTU said the protest against compulsory retirement of the union’s president and penalisation of several of its members had been delayed till June 26 owing to the security situation in the city.
The union made the announcement after a meeting on Monday.
On Sunday, PTU President Syed Sajjad Akbar Kazmi had communicated his reservations to The Express Tribune regarding arranging the protest demonstration on Tuesday amidst the PAT’s call for a rally on The Mall.
A PTU statement on Sunday said that the protest would go on as per schedule; however it retracted the decision on Monday.
This is the second time this month that the PTU has called off its protest citing law and order situation. It had earlier planned a protest demonstration in front of the Education Complex on June 18.
The union had decided to rally on The Mall and organise a protest camp in front of the provincial assembly.
PTU General Secretary Rana Liaquat Ali Khan confirmed that the protest campaign had been put off.
“The security situation is not conducive to holding a demonstration. There is no point in adding fuel to the fire,” Khan said. “We stand by our demands. We will arrange a protest rally later.”
Khan is one of the union members who have been relieved from their duties as teacher last week.
His service at Government Islamia High School, Multan Road, where he taught, was terminated and handed over to the EDO for posting elsewhere. The reason cited for this was his “undesirable activities”.
He is yet to be assigned another school. The union claims that this is part of the government’s drive to victimise PTU office-bearers.
Earlier, Kazmi, the PTU president, had been handed a compulsory retirement notice and 15 members were handed similar orders by education authorities in the province.
“We were aware of the consequences when we set out to demand our rights; this is something we had been told through various channels as well,” Khan said.
Sources in the PTU said that the decision to postpone the protest campaign had been taken to prevent the authorities’ attention being diverted towards a “more pressing political” issue than the teachers’ protest.
“Besides security threats, the PTU officials were concerned about the PAT rally. They thought the protest by Qadri’s supporters might steal the limelight on June 24.”
The protest has now been rescheduled for June 26 in front of the Punjab Assembly. Hundreds of PTU officials from Lahore are expected to stage a sit in, they said.
PTU office-bearers say they will sign a letter carrying their demands in blood and send it to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan had formed a four-member committee in April to address issues pertaining to teachers in the Punjab.
Kazmi was also a member of the committee. The committee met on April 21 and had not held another meeting since.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2014.
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