By Our Staff Reporter
Lahore: A number of employees, members of civil society and parliamentarians took part in a Sunday protest rally against major price hikes, rising unemployment and other issues that people have been facing since the PTI-led government took office in August 2018, reported Dawn.
Protesters, including a number of women, gathered at the GPO junction under the banner of the Haqooq-i-Khalq movement. They were holding placards and banners inscribed with different demands, shouting slogans against the government for its inability to deal with the crisis.
“I lost my job at the factory (Gajjumata, Lahore) after the owner had cut off a number of employees due to a declining financial situation. My husband, too, doesn’t have a job these days, “said Mrs. Iram, one of the demonstrators, at the GPO intersection.
The protesters, including those who have been cut off by a leading industrial group, seemed determined to launch a protest movement for their rights, which, according to them, is not being handed over to them in breach of the Pakistan Constitution.
“A leading industrial group pulled 3,800 employees from different jobs in one go under the pretext of Coronavirus. We launched a protest in Faisalabad. Yet no one has noticed us. And now we are facing criminal cases reported by the police against us on applications from factory owners, “Muhammad Asif said to Dawn.
Tahir, Shahzad and others have also narrated similar ordeals while talking to this reporter. After having had a large number of participants, the rally went ahead to Charing Cross, where speakers from different segments of society were to give speeches. They were helped by the shopkeepers and the motorists on the way.
“The price hike really crushed people from all walks of life. This is the first government whose policies have impacted everybody, “said the shopkeeper. “We must endorse the organisation of such protests for our rights.”
The protesters demanded urgent remedial steps to be taken by the government to provide relief to the people. They said they would step up the campaign to provide them with citizenship.
Protesters also praised the PTI government and said that the country is going through the worst human rights crisis.
MNA Mohsin Dawar criticised the government for abolishing the Pakistan Medical Council and bringing in a new body, the Pakistan Medical Commission. “The new commission is making it easier for private medical colleges to make profits. In addition, they have implemented a new test that reflects the fact that the Commission does not trust medical education in the public and private sectors of Pakistan. It is really strange,” he said and urged the participants to unite if they want to get their rights from this government.
He expressed sorrow at the death of a farmer during a recent protest in Lahore.
Farooq Tariq said that, as the people of the US managed to get rid of Donald Trump, the people of Pakistan will soon be able to send out a packing of this country’s junior Trump (Imran Khan). He called for the fixing of Rs2,000 per common wheat support price for farmers and Rs35,000 minimum wage for workers.
Abid Saqi expressed deep concern about the killing of people in demonstrations. “They’re killing people. They’re making people go missing. It’s an intense dictatorship that must come to an end now, “he said.
At the rally against price hike, another rally, though demonstrating solidarity with the armed forces, also took place at The Mall near Charing Cross. Organized by the “Hum Awam Pakistan” faction, the participants raised slogans in support of the army.
The police stopped them away from the Haqooq-i-Khalq rally in an effort to prevent any untoward situation.