Police thwart protest in Indian-controlled Kashmir

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir - Indian police Wednesday used water cannons and batons to thwart local government employees' protest march in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.

? Government employees are hit by dyed water from a cannon used by Indian police to disperse a protest by the employees in Srinagar May 9, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

The employees has called for a march to enter civil secretariat to build pressure on the government to fulfill their demands. Civil secretariat comprises of the office of the region's chief minister, his ministers and top bureaucrats. ? ?

Hundreds of employees in groups gathered on roads and tried to proceed towards the civil secretariat. Protesters who were shouting anti-government slogans to press for their demands were stopped by police deployed in full strength across the city.

"Our demands are genuine and government by using force can't silence us,"said Javed Trali, spokesperson of Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), an amalgam of employee unions in Indian- controlled Kashmir.

The region's employees are seeking enhancement in their retirement age from 58 to 60, increase in housing and rental allowance, regularization of contractual and daily wage employees, increase in cost of living allowance (COLA) and removal of pay anomalies.

Work in government offices including schools remained affected for the second straight day because of the two-day strike called by employees unions Tuesday. However, work in civil secretariat remained unaffected.

Police arrested dozens of employees, including their leaders, and detained them in different police stations, employees said.

"We sprayed colored water on them to disperse them,"said a police officer. "Their assembly was creating problems to the vehicular traffic and pedestrians."

Employees alleged more than a dozen of their colleagues sustained injuries in police action at different places in Srinagar.

A police spokesman in Srinagar admitted they used "minimal force" on employees and said four employees were injured.

The employees strike caused a lot of inconvenience to the general public.

Indian-controlled Kashmir has around 450,000 employees serving various government run departments.

The local government had constituted a committee headed by the region's chief secretary Madhav Lal to make recommendations on the employees' demands to the government. The committee has submitted its report after deliberations with the employees.