The transport company operating 56 new CNG busses in the city has gone on strike to protest the repeated assaults of students on the buses and their crew. The decision was taken by a transport company, Foton, after one of their buses was attacked about at 10:30am by around 50 students of the Government Civil Lines College, Lahore. The students stopped the buss operating at route B9 (Kalma Chowk—Railway Station) in front of the district court and asked the conductor to board all students free of cost. The argumentation between the two resulted in hot exchange of words, which led to an eventual brawl. The driver and conducted were beaten up severely by the students who also snatched their cell-phones and cash.
The student’s anger, however, did not subside and they went on to damage the bus as well, breaking windows and the LCD of the bus. The enforcement staff of the Lahore Transport Company reached the scene along with the Islampura Police and rushed the injured driver and conductor the hospital.
An FIR (Number 1519/11) under section 382 PPC was registered in the Islampura Police Station against the students – besides police assurance of speedy justice and effective follow up of the incident.
This strike means 56 buses from the three major routes of the city will be taken off, resulting in inconvenience to the general public. This is not the first incident which forced the company to go on strike; rather it was one of a series of such incidents.
The first one was allegedly carried out by the MAO College students who had assaulted the driver and conductor and damaged the bus as well. The students were warned and as a result Foton went on a partial strike of five hours everyday during the college timings. This however did not deter the students, nor did it make the college administration to take any action as the same happened to a public transport wagon in front of the college on Wednesday.
The Government College Diyal Singh, Lahore, students too committed the same offence. The Civil Lines college students adventurism on Friday proved the last nail in the coffin, and the transport company went on complete strike.
LTC GM Enforcement SSP Kamran Khan condemned all such actions and expressed his disappointment at the ruthless behavior of students towards public transport. He said that the colleges’ administration needed to play an active role in prohibiting such behavior. He went on to say that the whole city had suffered due to the mistake of the few who believed in vandalism.