Day by day, the Musharraf military regime is slipping from one crisis to another. A total failure of the regime in all its social manifestations shows that either Pakistan will face widespread anarchy or will deal with a revolution. Despite a so-called 6.5 percent growth rate a barbaric act of privatisation of state assets has been haunting the country for the last 20 years. Profitable state owned industries and institutions are being sold at penniless prices. Educational institutions are not exempt from this privatisation program vigorously advocated by pundits of the state.

The ban on the Teachers' Union is a continuation of this brutal process of privatisation of educational institutions. The teachers of Sindh took a courageous step to defy this process for the sake of the future of education in Pakistan. They are not selfishly fighting for the survival of their union but their mere action is for cheaper quality education for millions of the poor.

Sindh is no stranger to state repression. Feudal psychology of the bureaucrats always provides them the means of repression to suppress the voices of the oppressed. But Sindh has always stood like a lighthouse of defiance in the hours of darkness and storms.

The incident of 22^nd August in which the teachers of Sindh were severely beaten in front of the public and arrested only for raising their voice for their rights depicts the hollowness of this regime and weakness of this system.

On a peaceful morning 2,000 teachers of the Sindh Employees Alliance, in which all the unions of teachers, GASTA (Government Secondary Teachers Association), SUPLA (Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association), MATA (Masjid School Teacher Association), PTA (Primary Teachers Association) and APCA (All Pakistan Clerk Association) are united, gathered in front of the Karachi Press Club. They were holding banners and placards condemning the ban on teachers' unions and against the privatisation of schools and colleges. When the rally moved forward towards the chief ministers' residence they were encircled by the notorious Sindh police, which started to baton-charge and use other repressive measures.

Many teachers, including female teachers, got injured. The police arrested many and took them to the police station. Female teachers who got injured in this protest are Surraya Jatoi from Hyderabad, District Joint Secretary Farzana Khan, Mumtaz Pathan, Khatoon Bashir and Apa Sheeren while the teachers who were arrested are Professor Liaqat Aziz Solangi, Rafeeq Jarwar, Abdul Ghani Kanhyar, comrade Alam Khokhar, Sadeeq Malkani and others.

After that the remaining teachers gathered at the Press Club and held a mass meeting. Nisar Khoro, Ghinwa Bhutto, Rafeeq Jarwar, Qurban Ali Mallah, Surayya Jatoi and Junnat Hussain of PTUDC addressed the meeting. PTUDC condemned the brutality by the state and demanded an end to all the brutal laws in the constitution and to remove the ban on all union activities. A leaflet from PTUDC was also distributed in the meeting.

The provincial minister for education Hameeda Khoro on behalf of the Sindh government has announced that any disruption in the functions of the school will be dealt with serious consequences. However, all the teachers are determined and have called for a complete shut-down of schools and colleges in Sindh until their demands are accepted. The leadership has also called for another sit-in in front of the Chief Minister house on 5^th September.

The commitment and determination of the teachers is total. PTUDC for its part will continue to support the movement and is trying to link it with other institutions of the country and seek letters of condemnation from all over the globe, especially from trade unions.

Report By: Saqlain Shah

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