KL Report
SRINAGAR
Police on Thursday resorted to baton charge to foil the protest march organized by Joint Coordination Committee of employees (JCC) on Thursday here and detained dozens of employees.
The JCC had called for a one day protest demonstration at district headquarters across Jammu and Kashmir in support of their demands that include the increase in retirement age from existing 58 to 60.
Meanwhile, JCC has called Secretariat ghero on June 10 and cautioned that this would be the last chance for the Omar Abdullah government, “before final and decisive campaign is launched to press for their (employees) demands.”
“Thousands of employees took out protest march at every district headquarter of the state, including Jammu and Ladakh regions,” senior JCC leader and vice president of EJAC (Q) Nusrat Ahmad Beigh, who led the protest in Srinagar from Directorate of School Education, told a local news agency, KNS.
He alleged that the police resorted to baton charge and arrested at least 62 employees from Press Enclave and lodged them in Kralkhud Police Station till late afternoon.
“Police had sealed the main gate of School Education Directorate Office from where we were scheduled to take out the march. But we somehow managed to slip through Kothi bagh School gate and reached to Press Enclave where from we intended to proceed to Deputy Commissioner’s office to present the memorandum, but police stopped us and resorted to lathi charge,” said Baigh.
He, however, added that the march was a ‘huge success’ as thousands of employees turned on streets at all the district headquarters in all the three regions of the state and registered their protest.
“We have now called for Secretariat gherao on June 10, and government should take it as a last chance, and if government fails to deliver, we may go for the decisive agitation after the June 10 deadline is over,” Baigh added.
