KABUL (SW): A number of traffic wardens in the capital Kabul held a protest demonstration in front of the parliament against their ‘forced’ deployment to the war fronts.
The protestors said that their main task is to regulate the flow of traffic but the Ministry of Interior (MoI) is forcing them to go and fight the rebels in the restive Uruzgan, Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
Superintended Hameed, representing the protestors, said on the occasion that in clear contrast to his original profession, the MoI has now tasked him to serve in the security force in Uruzgan. He added that some 72 traffic wardens have now been appointed in the security forces to serve in these southern provinces.
Mohammad Ibrahim, another protesting warden said that he too has been asked to go and serve in Uruzgan. He added that besides his physical weakness, he has never used weapons and has no corresponding experience. “We have lost our energies serving under the Sun and snow, now they [MoI officials] is luring us to serve as commanders of the Border Force on the war fronts against the Taliban in Uruzgan”, he said.
The protestors underlined that they would prefer retirement over forced deployments to the war fronts.
In the meantime, Sidiq Siddiqui, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior (Mo), discarded the notion that traffic wardens have been forced to fight the rebels. “This is entirely wrong that someone is sending them to fight the rebels, only the reserve traffic wardens are sent to serve as traffic wardens in Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan provinces”, he cleared.
ENDS
