Srinagar: Police flexed their muscles freely on protesting employees of Public Health Engineering Department on Monday when they took out a march in city centre Lal Chowk in favour of their regularization demand.
Reports said that scores of PHE employees took out a procession in favour of their demands. As they came out from their office located near Girls Higher Secondary School Khotibagh, police tried to stop them. As the protesting employees reached near Exchage Raod Srinagar, scores of policemen pounced on them, hitting and kicking them freely.
Policemen bundled dozens of employees into their vehicles and detained them in police station Khotibagh. Police treated us like cattle. They thrashed us mercilessly as we were criminals. This is what we get in Omar Abdullah led government, insult, humiliation and abuses, Chairman Kashmir PHE Joint Employees Association, Sajad Ahmed Parrey said adding that scores of employees suffered injuries in police action.
As the protesting employees did not disperse even after bearing the heat of police, water cannons were used later on near Maulana Azad Road.
Protestors were demanding that those daily wagers who have completed their time should be regularized while those casual labours who have not completed their time should be treated as permanent daily wagers.
Sajad Ahmed Parrey said that as a mark of protest, PHE employees will stage a nocturnal sit-in at their Khotibagh headquarters while on May 27 Tuesday employees will march towards Sonawar where it will stage a massive protest outside Chief Ministers Gupkar residence.
Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party Monday strongly condemned the brutal police action on protesting PHE daily wagers.
In a statement the party Chief Spokesperson, Naeem Akhtar, said it is yet another instance of an insensitive, inefficient government trying to relate with the people through force. He said the ruling coalition has let loose a war with every section of the society, over the last more five years, and instead of resolving the issues of the people it has taken the state to new depths of atrocities, mis-governance and anarchy.
Naeem said the government had gone back on all its promises made to everyone of the society. But when it is reminded of its unfulfilled commitments like the one with employees, it has no answer except bullets, lathis and prison, he added.
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