FEDERAL Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad is considered to be a seasoned politician who knows well ins and outs of the country’s politics and his views are, therefore, taken seriously by majority of people. He often passes relevant and appropriate remarks but at times goes too far in his attempt to make his words cheerful for his listeners and that is what he did on Sunday while talking about excessive use of tear-gas against protesting government employees recently.
The issue that was being agitated by the protestors was adequately addressed when the Government wisely agreed to increase their salaries by 25% and the gesture also contributed to some extent in healing the wounds inflicted by brutal police action against employees. However, improper remarks of the Minister that it was “necessary to test the tear-gas as it had been unused for a long time” and that a little was used and a large quantity was still there in the stores reflected lack of sanity on the part of the Minister. It showed the Minister has not remorse over his uncalled-for action against protestors that has widely been denounced by all segments of the society.
The Government employees were protesting for a genuine right and they should never have been handled the manner the authorities opted to on that day. It is not an action that one should take pride in and the threat that adequate quantities were there in stores for use against citizens is also reprehensible. Sheikh Rashid always lived with ordinary people and, therefore, must be sensitive to their plight but his remarks that the real issue was not tear-gas shelling but the pay rise that has added burden of billions of rupees on the national exchequer are reflective of insensitivity towards the most serious problems of the people i.e. phenomenal inflation. The Government has done no extra favour to its employees by compensating them for a part of the inflation that has been triggered mainly by government policies.
