Pakistan: Beat terrorism, not nurses

The shameful manner in which the Punjab police dealt with a peaceful protest by nurses in front of the Punjab Assembly on Friday calls into question the raison d’être of the institution and its policies. Police baton-charged a group of nurses protesting the expiry of their contracts at various hospitals and demanding permanent employment. The brutal charge led to vicious beatings as the nurses rightly resisted an encroachment on their fundamental right to peaceful public assembly. Ten nurses were jailed overnight without charge, some were shifted to hospitals with serious injuries, none more serious than a seven months pregnant nurse, whose life and unborn child remain in danger from the excessive beating she received. The most gruesome aspect of the entire shambles was the behaviour of women police officers, who waded in with cudgels, pulling hair, and knocking nurses to the ground with savage pleasure and no empathy for their feminine compatriots. Is this what the Punjab police is meant to do? Beat peaceful and defenceless young women into unconsciousness or death in violation of their rights? Sadly, the structure, policies and history of the Punjab police point to the fact that this is exactly what they are meant to do. A descendant of the colonial police and organised around many of the same principles for suppressing public dissent, the institution’s barbaric nature is revealed on a daily basis. Earlier this week a young woman was forced to kill herself because police officers took no action against a group of men she alleged had raped her. In fact, most citizens assume that bringing a case to the police will hurt them more than not doing so.

Friday’s events also show the indifference of politicians and officials to the welfare of citizens, and their inability to fulfil the basic requirements of governance. This is not the first time health workers have protested ad hoc arrangements. In 2012, young doctors across the Punjab protested similar treatment, and the issue was never fully resolved. The nurses protesting on the Mall for the past week have simple demands; they want their contractual agreements with government hospitals to pave the way for permanent employment, benefits and proper salaries. Many of them have worked on contract for six or seven years. The government demands they sit for examinations under the Punjab Public Services Commission. The range of solutions to the problem is virtually endless. A professional review board could be constituted to individually assess nurses, sifting those who should sit for examinations from those who are experienced enough to bypass them. Certain contracts could be extended, pay raises given across the board or in a phased manner according to each hospital’s need. None of these measures were considered. Instead the police was cut loose on protestors to do what they do best. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif took notice of the incident, so we will watch keenly if he follows through on his promise to punish the errant police officials and resolve the nurses’ issues.