Police in Balochistan have beaten up student protesters in Quetta who had staged a demonstration for their educational rights, Friday Times reported.
Medical students in Quetta have been staging a demonstration for over 75 days, and began a hunger strike last week.
Students are protesting against a decision made by the Pakistan Medical Council (PMC) which invalidated many of the students’ medical degrees. PMC had added a requirement for an additional test for certain medical colleges in Balochistan, which students claim was an an attempt to ‘blacklist’ medical schools in the province, the report said.
“600 students of three medical colleges of Balochistan have been protesting against PMC’s decision of special exam for the last 73 days but no one has been listening to them,” said a leader of the Baloch Student Action Committee (BSAC) at an earlier protest.
In response to the incident, Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman Baloch, who led the “Gwadar ko haq do” (Give Rights to Gwadar) sit-in late last year, condemned the violence and shared a video of the alleged clash, calling for a stop to the abuse.
In solidarity with the students, Former Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani on Tuesday said he would join the students if the PMC did not address their grievances. He appeared at a meeting with the PMC to discuss the matter, along with Secretary Health Balochistan Noor ul Haq Baloch and the principals of medical colleges in the province, the report said.
Protest over non-payment of salaries
Anti-government protest rallies were held in Pakistan’s Quetta by employees of Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), Quetta Metropolitan Corporation (MCQ) and other Balochistan Municipal Committees over the non-payment of salaries and pensions.
The protestors slammed the government for unnecessary delay in fund approvals and also chanted slogans demanding the government to fulfil their demands, reported The Express Tribune.
The protest rally, on Wednesday, was held from Zarghoon Road, Municipal Corporation and White Road in Quetta on the call of Balochistan Labour Federation. Along with this, a sit-in at Edhi Chowk was held too where hundreds of workers and employees participated in the protest.
Balochistan Labour Federation leadership rebuked the ‘anti-labour policies’ of the provincial Finance Minister and Finance Secretary. They made clear that the protest will not end until and unless their demands are met and salaries of employees are released, reported The Express Tribune.
The MCQ also expressed its disappointment towards the government against non-payment of dues. Balochistan Labor Federation President chided the government and said that negligence and incompetency of government has forced the government employees to stage protests and sit-ins.
Moreover, he promised to extend the protest across Balochistan if the payment is not made on time. (with inputs from ANI)