THE countrywide strike by train drivers to put pressure on the government to accept their demands was called off after 18 hours, but not before thousands of commuters had endured extreme distress on account of the sudden disruption in train operations midnight Saturday. The trains are back on track even if they are still running late. Khawaja Saad Rafiq, the railways minister, described the drivers’ action as “needless, unreasonable and illegal” before using his Twitter account to announce that the “strike had been foiled”. It remains unclear as to what made the disgruntled drivers return to work so soon, although some reports suggest that the railway authorities used strong-arm tactics to force them to resume duty. The arrest of their colleagues from different cities under the anti-terrorism laws may also have contributed to the end of the strike. The railway management’s decision to call in contract and junior drivers to work is also said to be one of the reasons why the strike apparently failed.

Indeed, though protest is a democratic right, such an extreme step taken by the drivers to press their demands — upgradation of pay scales, increase in mileage and meal allowance, and reinstatement of sacked drivers allegedly responsible for accidents — disrupted the travel plans of thousands of commuters. But the railway minister’s decision to employ police and anti-terrorism laws to scare them back to work is simply not acceptable. It would have been much better if he had chosen to negotiate with them and addressed their grievances before they stopped the trains. None of their demands is unjustified after all. The government has already allowed pay raise for other railway staff — station masters, special ticket examiners and so on. Why have the drivers been left out? The demand for reinstatement of their colleagues sacked summarily without transparent and independent inquiries into train accidents also makes sense. And how is stoppage of payment of pensions and other benefits to the survivors of drivers killed in those accidents a legitimate action? Heads must roll but not without proper investigations in full public view. For too many years, Pakistani commuters have endured a poor train service owing to the shortage of rolling stock and an inefficient and corrupt management and staff. They may be forced by circumstances to use this terrible service, but surely they deserve better.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2017