KARACHI, Aug 22: After undergoing harassment and police torture at a demonstration staged by thousands of teachers on Tuesday, the protesting employees of government-run schools and colleges decided to boycott academic activities for an indefinite period throughout the province from Aug 24.

Police in their attempt to refrain thousands of teaching and non-teaching staffs from marching towards the Chief Minister’s House for demonstration resorted to teargas shelling and baton-charge in the vicinity of Bagh-i-Jinnah. They also picked up a number of teachers, including the central leadership of Sindh Employees Alliance, and detained them at different police stations.

The teachers and non-teaching staff, who survived the police action, gathered for the second time at the Karachi Press Club to stage a sit-in that lasted till Tuesday night and condemned the Sindh government for harassment of school and college employees.

Teachers are in a lurch for over one month as the Sindh Education Department, with the approval of chief minister, notified about imposition of ban on union or association activities by employees of the education department.

The ban had already been described as unlawful, illogical and arbitrary action by politicians, intellectuals and human right activists, who said that the ban deprived teachers of their constitutional and basic human right of freedom of expression.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday evening, Sindh Employees Alliance office-bearers Abdul Ghani Qumbar and Hussain Bakhsh Khaskhelli said that teachers would put off academic activities from Thursday till the ban on teachers’ associations was lifted and the education minister and secretary were removed from their posts.

They demanded immediate release of teachers arrested by police, action against police personnel for committing torture on teachers and employees, and acceptance of their long pending demands.

“There will be no teaching in educational institutions throughout the province while rallies and sit-ins will be staged by teachers, non-teaching employees and students,” they said.

One of the speakers said that despite the threats of suspension and removal from jobs over 4,000 school and college teachers participated in the grand demonstration at Karachi, irrespective of massive use of state machinery and police interruptions at Dadu, Matiari, Jamshoro, Sukkur and other districts of Sindh. “Now, we are ready to take any extreme step against government’s move to suppress teachers,” said an enraged school teacher.

Earlier in the morning, as per plan given by the SEA, hundreds of primary, secondary, college and university teachers from all over the province gathered at Karachi Press Club to protest against the ban imposed by the education department. They were also joined by a good number of Karachi-based teachers. Several political leaders, including leader of the opposition in Sindh Assembly Nisar Khuhro, also addressed the gathering and condemned the government.

After the demonstration, the teachers who were well-guarded by police started marching towards the CM’s House around 12.15 noon through M.R Kiyani Road. As they reached Arts Council roundabout, police used teargas shells and resorted to baton charge to disperse the rally.

However, according to an eyewitness, some teachers carrying banners and placards managed to reach in front of Bagh-i-Jinnah, which further caused concern among the police ranks. Finally, physical obstructions and aerial shots, besides teargas shells and batons, were used by police. A group of teachers was seen at PIDC roundabout as well.

During the hide-and-seek, teachers and employees also entered Bagh-i-Jinnah, which was finally surrounded by police. Police action continued for 30 to 45 minutes during which a number of teachers sustained injuries and several teachers were arrested from the Bagh area, PC limits and Artillery Maidan Police vicinity. Till late in the night teachers’ leadership, which escaped the police, was uncertain about the exact number of their arrested colleagues. However, according to SEA, those arrested included Rafiq Ahmad Jarwar, Prof Liaquat Aziz, Taj Joyo, Imtiaz Ali Lashari, Fahim Soomro, Khalilur Rehman, Yar Muhammad Brohi, Liaquat Ali Ghangro, Asadullah Memon, Mohammad Bukhsh, Jali Soomro, Siraj Lakho, Bakhsh Ali Bhutto, Aftab Ahmad, Asghar Ali Shah, Faqir Ali Bakhsh Soomro, Mohammad Ayub Mari, Abdur Razzaq Sehto, Akbar Khawaja, Mirza Dahri and Rasheed Ahmad Memon.

When contacted, Saddar Town Police Officer Tahir Naveed told Dawn around 9.15pm that about 30 teachers had been detained by police for violating law and causing nuisance to public.

“We had allowed the teachers to hold rally near the KPC and present their point of view before the media,” he said maintaining that police action against teachers was effected only when they tried to march towards CM’s House and Governor’s House for protest, which was a serious offence.

Meanwhile, former senator and HRCP secretary general Iqbal Haider, PPP (SB) chairperson Ghinwa Bhutto, Nihal Hashmi of PML (N), Siddique Rathore and leaders of Jamat-i-Islami visited the protesting teachers, who staged a sit-in at the Karachi Press Club in the evening.

An office-bearer of the SPLA said that teachers and non-teaching staff coming from different districts of Sindh dispersed in the night, with the pledge that government school and college employees would observe strike against the indifferent attitude of the government.