The federal capital turned into a war zone on Wednesday as several government employees, demanding a pay rise, clashed with Islamabad police near the Parliament House. Protests were being held at different parts of the metropolis, including Constitution Avenue, outside Secretariat Block and Cabinet Block. The Federal Secretariat Employees Core Committee, All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA), All Pakistan Secretariat Employees Coordination Council (APSECC), All Pakistan Lady Health Workers Association (APLHWA) and several other public sector organizations had announced a sit-in in front of the Parliament House while running a countrywide movement until the acceptance of demands.
Swarms of discontented employees have been pressing for reasonable compensation for quite some time now. Across the country, the public servants were gathering under the umbrella of All Government Employees Grand Alliance for upgradation in their salaries. In light of the soaring prices of everyday essentials, these employees could not be called out for making unreasonable demands. It has actually become tremendously hard to manage a straitened budget.
As per Pakistan’s constitution (Article 16, 17 and 19) as well as Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 19 and 20), the protestors were well-within their rights to stage demonstrations for their legitimate demands and expected an ear from the state. Whether the government was ready to satisfy their requests, the least it could do was not create war-like conditions in the Red Zone. Security personnel should have been better trained to operate in favour of facilitating peace protests, not provoking violence. Utter chaos ensued when protestors retaliated to tear-gas with stones whilst government employees were seen running everywhere for cover. Ergo, another protest gone wrong at the behest of some officers willing to jump the gun.