Karachi
Condemning the use of “brutal force” against the protesting employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which resulted in the killing of two employees, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday to shun the dictatorial attitude towards innocent masses.
“Bilawal asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to desist from adopting dictatorial tactics to silence democratic rights of protest of PIA employees,” PPP’s media cell wrote on its official Twitter account.
The statement of the Pakistan Peoples Party chairman came a few hours after protesting PIA workers clashed with Rangers and police personnel while marching towards the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi. Water canon was used to disperse the employees who were protesting against the proposed privatisation of the national airline. He also expressed sympathies and solidarity with the employees of the national flag- carrier, and assured them that “the PPP stands against the privatisation of national assets for peanuts and stands with the just cause of the labour class in the country”.
He assured the protesters that “the PPP stands against the privatization of national assets for peanuts and stands with the just cause of the labour class in the country”, the PPP media cell said.
A large number of employees under the banner of the Joint Action Committee staged a protest in front of the airport. The situation got intense when law enforcers used tear gas shells and water cannon to disperse the protesters.
Judicial commission
PPP leaders said in a statement that PIA employees were protesting at all airports across Pakistan, but on the orders of the federal government, two employees were shot dead and more than two dozens injured in straight fire. “This is a planned conspiracy to destroy peace and tranquility in Karachi,” said the statement issued by the PPP Media Cell Sindh.
PPP Karachi Division President Syed Najmi Alam, General Secretary Nadeem Bhutto, Secretary Information Lateef Mughal and Deputy Secretary Information Syed Manzoor Abbas said the elements behind the killings of the PIA employees were those on whose instructions many protesters had been killed in the Model Town carnage in Lahore in June 2014 .
They said federal ministers Senator Mushahidullah Khan and Pervez Rashid were on record as having used highly aggressive language against the peaceful PIA employees.
They said the security of airports was an obligation of the federal government, but the killings of the PIA employees and injuries to dozens of others caused by bullets showed they were carried on the federal government’s instructions.
The PPP leaders said TV cameras had recorded everything that happened at the Karachi airport, as was previously done in Model Town, where a law enforcement agency killed several peaceful protesters.
On the basis of this record, the chief justice of Pakistan should take suo moto notice and announce the formation of a Judicial Commission to fix responsibility.
They said the PML-N had crossed al limits of tyranny and it was the need of the hour that a ruthless accountability of the party should be conducted.
Privatisation opposed
The Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) condemned what it called brutal steps to curb a protest of PIA employees against the federal government’s decision to privatise the national airline.
In a statement, it criticised law enforcement agencies for resorting to baton charges, tear gas shelling and using water cannon against peaceful employees outside the PIA headquarters in Karachi.
Piler Executive Director Karamat Ali expressed anguish and sorrow over the loss of two PIA employees’ lives and injuries to many others as a result of firing during the protest.
He demanded of the government to order a judicial inquiry into the incident and take stern action against the responsible officials.
Ali criticised the enforcement of the Essential Services (Maintenance) Act 1952 in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for six months, and said the workers had been deprived of their fundamental right to protest through those laws.
“We oppose the move of privatisation of PIA because it is against the interest of workers and the airline as well.”
The labour leader demanded from the government to withdraw the privatisation plan of all state-owned enterprises.
He expressed solidarity with the Joint Action Committee of the employees and offered condolences over the deaths of two workers.