KOHAT: Fixed wage employees of the Kohat Tehsil Municipal Administration, including women, staged a protest sit-in on Tuesday against the non-payment of their remunerations for last three months.

They carried placards and chanted slogans against the government.

Speaking to the protesters, president of the employees’ union Sakhi Badshah set a week’s deadline for payment of the pending salary, or they would suspend all civic services.

He recalled that when they went to the offices of the municipal administration to demand their pending wages, they were told that the funds for the purpose had yet to be transferred to the district accounts branch.

“We met the tehsil municipal officer and MNA Shehryar Afridi, but they also failed to get their pending wages released.

Mr Badshah regretted that while the salary of the permanent staff was never delayed or blocked, that of the fixed employees was always delayed.

Meanwhile, a state-of-the-art X-Ray machine for patients suffering from tuberculosis has been installed at the Women and Children Hospital, also known as Liaquat Memorial Hospital, donated by the National TB Programme, officials said.

They added that a solar system had also been installed to ensure that the machine functioned during the electric loadshedding.

RALLY: People belonging to different walks of life took out a rally under the auspices of the police here on Tuesday to express solidarity with the armed forces, and condemned the Indian war threats following the Pahalgam attack.

The participants said Pakhtuns would fight side by side with the army if India dared to attack Pakistan.

The rally started from the Kohat Press Club and ended at the Martyrs’ Square.

The speakers alleged that Indian Prime Minister Narendar Modi had no regard for the international laws, and had unilaterally withdrawn the Indus Water Treaty.

The participants raised slogans against India and in favour of the armed forces of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2025