BAHAWALPUR: Teachers of government schools in Hasilpur tehsil on Wednesday protested against what they called privatisation of their schools and teachers’ alleged retrenchment.

Teachers assembled in front of Bahawalpur Chowk and demonstrated against the Punjab Education Department.

Local office-bearers of Punjab Teachers Union Allah Bakhsh, Muhammad Naeem and others demanded the government not outsource public schools after which they would be sacked and their replacements hired at a monthly honorarium of Rs5,000.

EXECUTED: A convict Ghulam Hussain was executed at the new central jail on Wednesday.

The convict, a resident of Sadiqabad tehsil in Rahim Yar Khan district, had murdered a woman on May 26, 2008 who had rejected his marriage proposal. The woman’s parents did not want their daughter to marry Hussain, who murdered her with a sharp-edged weapon.

Sadiqabad Saddar police had arrested Hussain under murder charges and the Rahim Yar Khan district and sessions judge had handed down death sentence to him on June 27, 2009.

TRAIN ROUTE: According to a Pakistan Railway press release, the route of Musa Pak express Up/Down train has been extended to Sammasatta here from Multan and to Rawalpindi from Lahore in the time table issued for summer.

Now, the train, which was earlier running between Multan and Lahore, will run between Sammasatta via Multan and Lahore to Rawalpindi. The local business community welcomed the decision, which would facilitate travel through the extra express train besides the existing travelling facilities by other trains.

Locals demanded railway authorities provide a one-minute stop to Up/Down Karakorum Express running between Lahore and Karachi at the Bahawalpur railway station to facilitate local passengers.

ARRESTS: Police sources claim 27 suspects were rounded up during search operations in the Saddar and Hasilpur police circles. The suspects were being interrogated by various police teams.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2016