LAHORE, Nov 6: Police showed restraint on Wednesday when students of different city colleges pelted them with stones during a protest rally held by teachers and doctors near Nasser Bagh.

The procession was taken out after a meeting at the Islamia College Civil Lines on the call of Joint Action Committee to protest against government’s health and education policies.

A student and a plainclothesman, who was later identified as Naulakha SHO, sustained minor injuries when students struggled to crash through barricades at the Kutchery Chowk.

A heavy contingent of riot police led by the SSP (Operations), with a passive resistance, disallowed the marchers to tread further. They simply lined up behind the barricades on all sides of the crossing but showed restraint even when the slogan-raising students hurled stones at them. The students were finally calmed down by JAC leaders.

The JAC leaders, however, claimed that the students were provoked after the Naulakha SHO hit one of them without any reason. They said the government deliberately tried to create a law and order situation, fearing that the JAC might make such attempts in the next protest rallies by the JAC.

Traffic remained suspended for quite sometime during the rally and commuters faced inconvenience.

Earlier, speaking to a sizable gathering of students, teachers and doctors in the Civil Lines College, Dr Yasmin Rashid said the government was victimizing teachers and doctors for participating in protest demonstrations.

She said she was proud of teachers and doctors who were taking part in the movement despite receiving show-cause notices by the government.

Dr Yasmin said the JAC would not hold talks with the Punjab governor who, she alleged, was responsible for the delay in the formulation of the new government in the province.

She said that the teachers, doctors and students were treated with respect in civilized societies but here the government was doing otherwise. It was marginalizing their four-month struggle against the boards of governors in educational institutions and teaching hospitals, and the Model University Ordinance.

JAC chairman Nazim Hasnain said the doctors and the teachers would intensify their campaign during Ramazan if the government failed to withdraw ‘black laws’.

He said that people from different walks of life had endorsed the JAC struggle and promised to participate in it. He said the whole nation had turned against the government for its anti-health and education polices.

Mr Hasnain alleged that the government was bent upon implementing the IMF and the World Bank agenda. He said that such policies would be detrimental to the masses.

Labour Party president Farooq Tariq also pledged labourers’ support to the JAC. He said that workers from across the country would struggle shoulder-to-shoulder with teachers and doctors against the ‘black laws’ and would force the government to withdraw them.

JAC information secretary Raja Mahboob said the government had so far served notices on 12 teachers and five doctors in the Punjab and was planning to serve another 200.

Meanwhile, teachers and students across the province also boycotted classes on Wednesday after 10am and brought out protest rallies.

Giving details about their future protest, a JAC spokesman said that the teachers and students of all colleges in the country would boycott the classes after 10am on Nov 13 and bring out protest rallies. The major rally would be brought out from Punjab University Old Campus.