The police in Islamabad have arrested a man who tried to immolate himself and his two young daughters in front of the Supreme Court building. The man is said to be one of the 16,000 so-called sacked employees who continue to protest in the country.
Waheed Baloch arrived at the Constitution Avenue riding a motorbike that he stopped at the Federal Board of Revenue Office across the road from the Supreme Court building.
He helped his two daughters, both below 10 years of age, get off the motorbike. Then he removed the fuel pipe from motorbike’s petrol tank, and doused himself and the girls with the petrol.
Policemen and intelligence officials, already present there, were quick to respond. They grabbed Baloch before he could strike the matchstick and overpowered him.
He was handed over to the Secretariat Police Station. The girls were also taken to the police station before being reunited with their mother.
The police say Waheed Baloch hails from Naushahro Feroze in the Sindh province. He was sacked from the National Highway Authority (NHA).
His wife told the police that he had left the house saying he was taking the girls on sightseeing.
Baloch, his wife, and their children were staying with a relative in Islamabad. The wife accompanied the relative to the police station after she was informed about the incident.
Who are the sacked employees?
In 2010, the Pakistan People Party government passed the Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Ordinance Act, 2010 to reinstate over 16,000 government employees who were sacked in 1996 by the then Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz government.
However, the Supreme Court declared the Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Ordinance Act, 2010 illegal and unconstitutional in 2012 and the employees were again sent home.
Most of these sacked employees have protested in different cities of the country. The latest protest was held outside the Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, September 2.
The police say Waheed Baloch has told them that he was not paid anything at his dismissal, not even the provident fund, for the duration he worked at the NHA, and since he was unable to feed himself and his children, he decided to attempt suicide.
The police have registered a case against Baloch. He could face one year in prison and a fine under Section 309 (Attempt to commit suicide) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
He is likely to be produced before a court on Saturday.
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