04 April 2004	Sunday	13 Safar 1425

THATTA, April 3: Hundreds of teachers took out a protest procession and blocked the National Highway by staging a sit-in here on Saturday.

A law enforcement agency official was injured and his jeep was damaged by the enraged teachers when he tried to pass through the blockade. Some eyewitnesses said the official had used abusive language which annoyed the protesters.

The teachers were protesting against Sindh Education Minister Irfanullah Marwat and demanding restoration of quota in employment for their children.

Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Masjid School Teachers Association president Hussain Bux Khamisani, Sindh Primary Teachers Association president Rafiq Jarwar, district PTA president Pir Gul Mohammad Shah and others said they would continue their struggle for their rights.

They demanded removal of the education minister.

POLICE TORTURE: A peasant, Ghulam Qadir Babar, 26, was wrongfully confined and severely tortured for four days by the Onger police.

This was alleged by some Human Rights Commission of Pakistan activists, a councillor of Onger union council, Haroon Babar, and some villagers.