Pakistan: PoK teachers threaten Imran Khan government over wage hike demand

Muzaffarabad (Pakistan): Hundreds of teachers who have been agitating for a wage hike for the last one week intensified their protest in Muzaffarabad city of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on Tuesday. 

Hundreds of teachers have taken to the streets demanding their fulfillment of their demands, threatening to boycott all the duties of the government including election work.

"This is our primary right. We want a wage increase. If not, the schools will remain closed. We are destroyers of king makers as well as regimes. If you don't listen to our demands then you There will be a lot of difficulty. You will forget your general elections," one protester said.

Threatening the serious consequences to Imran Khan's government, one of the protesters said, "We will not only close schools but block roads. There will be no space left for the government to stay away from this situation. We Will boycott all government duties, including teaching, block work, election work, board work. "

Another protester said, "We will not resume our duties until we get the rights. This is not an illegal demand. We are demanding a rightful increase." The protesters were raising slogans for the increment. Meanwhile, a large number of deployed police charged sticks and used water cannons as well as teargas shells to disperse the protesters.

Last month, police resorted to using force and tear gas on protesters as several teachers protested near Prime Minister Imran Khan's residence in Benigala to protest against his department's new regularization policy.

More than 700 teachers from Punjab reached Islamabad and decided to march to Khan's house to protest the new policy, which regularizes only the jobs of teachers who pass the Public Service Commission examination and clear interviews. The protesters saw this policy as 'unjust' as they had been working in their departments on contract for many years.