Protesting government employees on Wednesday faced wrath of authorities in Islamabad as they headed towards the Parliament House on Constitution Avenue.
According to Geo News, the protesters have reached D Chowk while Islamabad authorities have blocked the way towards the Parliament with containers. Demonstrators have started bypassing the containers because of which the police once again resorted to tear gas shelling to disperse them.
Because of the tear gas, some police and Rangers personnel also had to retract for a while, reports said.
The protesters have demanded that the containers be removed or else they will remove it themselves.
The federal government employees are demanding a raise in their salaries and had gathered today after their leader Rehman Bajwa and nine others were arrested overnight.
Following the arrests, the government workers in the federal capital had announced they will march towards the Parliament House from Pakistan Secretariat for their demands and the release of their leaders.
The police had resorted to tear gas shelling after they made a move towards the parliament. The protesters at one point also encircled Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz.
At another, the protesting employees also closed the doors to the secretariat bringing the government machinery to a halt.
At least two dozen protesting employees were taken into custody under Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO).
The government employees were protesting against the income disparities between various federal government employees. They have been demanding a 40% increase in their salaries.
The protesters have received support from government employees over grade 17, who have also demanded an increase in their salaries.
The All Pakistan Clerks Association and government employees of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh are also supporting the protest.
Speaking on the matter, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said that the government dealt with the protesters “correctly” and it was the demonstrators who had backtracked on the agreement.
“We dealt with this correctly we are increasing the salaries of 95% of employees at an average of 40%,” the minister told Geo News when asked about the situation.
“The matter will be resolved [if] they go back to their initial demands,” said the interior minister.
Geo also quoted sources as saying that a two-member committee, comprising interior and defence ministers, had been tasked with dealing with the protesters and was in contact with the finance ministry over the raise.
