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Link: Pakistan: PTCL workers protest countrywide

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The countrywide protests of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) employees turned violent on Tuesday after the Pakistan Rangers resorted to tear gas shelling outside the PTCL headquarters here, wounding at least two dozen people including a Rangers personnel. PTCL employees in Karachi, also staged protests and took out a rally from PTCL offices on II Chundrigar Road. PTCL employees in Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta also staged protests and took out rallies. The PTCL employees observed the strike against the Unified Pay Scales (UPS) introduced by the PTCL management. Separately, the PTCL Labour Union threatened that it would paralyse PTCL exchanges across the country from tomorrow if their demands were not met, SAMMA TV reported on Tuesday. According to the channel, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik ordered an inquiry into clashes between the Rangers and PTCL employees in Islamabad. The wounded employees refused to take medical aid at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), demanding the registration of a FIR against those responsible for “brutally beating” the protesters. PIMS doctors told reporters that around 17 people, including a Rangers personnel, were brought to the hospital and that almost all the injured were in stable condition. Tariq Pia, a PTCL employee, tried self-immolation to record his protest against the policies of the new management. Talking to reporters at PIMS, a union worker Zafar Mirza said that they had been holding peaceful protests for weeks and that the authorities were not listening to their demands. Negotiations were underway, he said, when the Rangers resorted to aerial firing and baton charged the peaceful protesters. Separately, a statement issued by the PTCL said that the UPS envisaged better remuneration package for company’s employees. They would receive, the statement added, substantial raise in salaries and that all of their service rights would be protected as per the PTCL Service Rules 1996 and the Telecom Act 1996.