Jehangir Rashid
Srinagar, June 15: Police charged batons and arrested scores of employees to foil their march towards Srinagar’s Civil Secretariat for the third consecutive day here today.
Police sealed the Agricultural Complex here and did not allow the employees to assemble there for marching towards civil secretariat.
This morning, scores of employees assembled outside the Agricultural complex and tried to enter the complex in order to raise their protest in support of their demands. However, a huge posse of police personnel had already sealed the complex and as such nobody could enter in.
The employees were led by Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) leader, Mohammad Gafoor Dar. Dar who is also the president of Jammu and Kashmir National Trade Union Front (JKNTUF) led the protesters to the nearby office of Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education in order to carry out the protest.
“The Board office was also sealed and we could not organize our protest demonstration there. We were forced to move towards the office complex of Academy of Art, Culture and Languages and we sat on a dharna there. The protests were vociferous and slogans were raised against the Government over their indifference in fulfilling the genuine demands of the Government employees,” said Dar while talking to Excelsior.
Outside the Academy around 300 employees carried out the protest demonstration and raised slogans against the Government. The protest demonstration at the Academy carried on for more than one and a half hours.
The protesters inside the Academy complex tried to break the cordon to march towards the Civil Secretariat. But their plan was foiled by the huge contingent of police present there. During the altercation between the two sides, some of the employees suffered minor injuries as police resorted to mild lathicharge on them.
Police arrested more than 50 protesters including Dar and some of the office bearers of EJAC. The arrested employees were lodged at Rajbagh police station and the Saddar police station. Some of the employees who were able to evade arrest re-grouped and raised protest demonstration against the police action.
“The administration had turned the venues of the protest demonstrations into garrison and employees were targeted as and when they tried to carry out a protest demonstration. However, these tactics would not work and we would get out due rights from the Government. There is still some time for the Government to fulfill our demands and in case they fail then the agitation would be intensified,” said Dar.
The employees arrested during today’s programme are Abdul Ahad Bandroo, Raj Singh, Sardar Vikramjeet Singh, Moulvi Nazir Ahmad, Nazir Ahmad Dar, Tariq Ahmad Mir, Tariq Ahmad Sofi, Parvez Iqbal, Moulvi Muneer Ahmad, Satpal Singh, Sahdev Singh, Peerna Dutta, Ghulam Nabi Rather, Fayaz Ahmad Sheikh, Mir Nazir Ahmad, Karanjeet Singh, Beer Singh, Imtiyaz Ahmad Malik, Muzaffar Ahmad Ganie, Nishad Ahmad Raina, Zamurat Khan, Rafiq Ahmad Lone, Farooq Ahmad and Hardev Singh.
“Our demand is that Government should regularize the services of the left over daily wagers of 1994 and a policy should be framed for the daily wagers engaged after 1994. Pay anomaly with respect to clerical cadre, ICDS supervisors and pre-revised grade of Rs. 6,500-10,000 should be removed. In addition, the retirement age should be brought at par with the central Government employees and pending wages of the public sector undertakings should be released,” said Dar.
In the meantime, the State Government employees today moved an application for the registering of an FIR against three police men – Sub-Inspector Aftab Gull, Munshi Basher Ahmad and a police sentry – for beating up senior JCC leader Farooq Ahmad Trali. But, the employees leaders said that police showed cold shoulder and now they are contemplating to move to court for seeking direction for the register of an FIR.
It may be mentioned here that Trali was beaten up yesterday in Police Station Karan Nagar after he was arrested from near the Exhibition during a protest march.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel