At least 200 school teachers who were protesting against the caretaker setup in Lahore have been arrested by the government under 3-MPO (Maintenance of Public Order), the Punjab School Teachers Union president said on Monday.

“The Lahore district commissioner issued the detention orders of protesting teachers after the court rejected their first information reports and ordered their release. At least 200 teachers have been arrested and sent to the Kot Lakhpat Jail for detention for 30 days,” Ghulam Mohiyuddin said in an interview with Spot Light with Munizae Jahangir that was aired on Aaj News on Monday.

According to the union president, the protest was peaceful. For the past six days, Mohiyuddin said the teachers have been protesting against the interim Punjab government’s decision to increase the 35% salaries of government teachers on their initial salary instead of running salary that was followed in the other three provinces and federal government.

When asked, he said that the caretaker Punjab government had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Muslim hands but the transferring of the schools was pending. “So far it has not started.”

The government has decided to privatise 1,000 public schools in Punjab and amend the pension regulations.

When asked if the caretaker government has the right to privatise schools, PPP Punjab General Secretary Hassan Murtaza said that it has only one duty to hold free and fair elections. But he lamented that the government had no such intentions.

Murtaza, who has also joined the show via video link, described it as “harassment” of teachers. He wondered whether the government was running away from its duty by “privatising everything”.

PML-N leader Daniyal Chaudhry “strongly condemned” it and said it was not appropriate to put teachers behind bars for protesting.

He was of the view that the government schools conditions were not good and called for opting a public-private partnership model to improve them. “But at the same time not at the cost of teachers who have been teaching for years. There could by mix and match hybrid model,” Chaudhry added.

PTI Senator Mohammad Humayun Mohmand claimed that it was the mindset of the provincial government to arrest people under 3MPO.

“The caretaker government is already unconstitutional and after November this federal government will also be unconstitutional,” he said.