ISLAMABAD: The gates of Imran Khan’s house in Banigala have become a wailing wall for the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) who travel to Islamabad with requests, demands and hopes.

For many months, people from KP have been coming to Banigala to hold sit-ins outside Mr Khan’s gates. For the last two months, a large number of people have been gathering here for various reasons.

On Sunday, employees of the Workers Welfare Board Schools reached Banigala. On Monday, they were joined by KP polio workers who descended here in the hopes of having their issues resolved.

Tahir Sajjad, an employee of a Workers Welfare Board School, KP, said 5,000 employees were working on contract basis in around 60 educational institutions of the board.

“The KP government has decided to advertise these jobs and have candidates take tests through the National Testing Service (NTS). We are not against the test but believe this should be taken for new appointments and existing employees should be regularised immediately,” he said.

Polio worker Saifullah said they have been facing threats from the Taliban and risking their lives but are not paid enough.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary Jahangir Tareen visited the sit-in and assured protesters, on behalf of Imran Khan, that the provincial government will be contacted and issues of both groups will be resolved.

However, protesters remained encamped outside the house till the filing of this report.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2015

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