Pakistan: Balochistan govt suspends 38 teachers for joining employees’ rights protests

Quetta, Jan 12 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Continuing its crackdown on public sector employees, Pakistan’s provincial government in Balochistan has suspended 38 assistant professors and lecturers, including six female teachers from various departments of the colleges, for three months over their participation in strikes and protests, local media reported on Monday.

According to a notification issued by the Balochistan chief secretary, the action was taken under the Balochistan Employees’ Efficiency and Discipline Act (BEDA) for participating in a strike, locking government offices, and hampering official work, accusing the suspended teachers of breaching government rules and regulations.

Citing officials, The Balochistan Post reported that those suspended include Abdul Qudoos Kakar, chairman of the Balochistan Grand Alliance, a coalition of government employees that has been spearheading the protest movement for several days over multiple demands related to employees’ rights.

Condemning the government’s move, the employee organisations expressed concern and described the suspensions as an effort to suppress the right to protest, warning that punitive measures against teachers would further escalate tensions between the government and its employees.

Meanwhile, the Baloch Students Action Committee (BSAC) denounced the government decision, calling it part of a longstanding pattern of suppressing voices seeking justice.

In its statement, the organisation said “the history of Balochistan bears witness that whenever a voice for truth and justice is raised, the government of the time has tried to suppress it through force and revenge”, adding that the response to the Balochistan Grand Alliance’s “legitimate demands” through “repression and violence” was “extremely shameful and authoritarian”.

According to the spokesperson of the BSAC, the suspension of professors and lecturers, including female teachers, as well as the arrest of alliance leaders, reflected a government “afraid of knowledge and the pen”.

He said that despite the authorities’ claim of improving education, “on the other hand, it suspends and arrests teachers … proving that in reality education and public welfare are not its priorities”.

The organisation called on the Balochistan government to drop “stubbornness and the use of force” and pursue a peaceful engagement with the protesting employees.

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