No public meeting, PPP to hold Labour Day rally today

Instead of holding a public meeting at the Nishtar Park, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) would now be holding a rally from the Merewether Tower to the Mazar-e-Quaid today (Monday) to commemorate International Labour Day.

Addressing a press conference PPP Karachi secretary Saeed Ghani said the change in plan was because of the ‘Sufi Conference’ scheduled to be held at the Nishtar Park on Sunday.

Since the party was unable to complete the arrangements for the public gathering owing to the venue being occupied, the PPP leadership thought it best to come up with an alternate plan, he said.

Ghani, however, maintained that the party would soon hold a public gathering at Nishtar Park.

As for the rally, the PPP Karachi secretary claimed that the rally would be held in line with the PPP’s manifesto and policies which has always upheld workers’ rights and struggled to secure them.

The party passed legislations in favour of the denied rights and privileges of the working class, Ghani added.

The rally is also a part of the PPP’s ongoing movement against the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) led federal government’s attitude towards Sindh and to demand the prime minister’s resignation, he added.

The rally would begin at 3 pm and would be attended by the provincial ruling party’s top leadership. The attendees are likely to be addressed by PPP Sindh President Nisar Khuhro.

The party had on April 26 held a sit-in at the Mazar-e-Quaid as part of its ‘Go Nawaz Go’ campaign. Besides Khuhro, the sit-in was also addressed by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. A large number of PPP followers and members had attended the protest.

Labour Day events

Agencies add: As around the country, several events are scheduled to be held in Karachi on Monday (today) to commemorate International Labour Day. 

An annual holiday that celebrates the past achievements of workers struggling for due rights, Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movements of yesteryear that advocated the eight-hour workday movement. 

In Pakistan, Labour Day is also known as May Day and was declared a national holiday in 1972 when the first labour policy was devised. Pakistan has been a member of the International Labour Organisation since independence in 1947, and has ratified 36 ILO conventions of which eight are core conventions.

One event scheduled for Monday would be held under the auspices of the National Trade Union Federation and would be organised in collaboration with the Home-Based Women Workers Federation.

According to the organisers, the rally would be led by Rafiq Baloch, central president of the NTUF, and would depart at 3:30pm from Regal Chowk to head towards the Karachi Press Club. 

Moreover, another event planned in Karachi would be under the aegis of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler). The event would be in the form of a rally that would be attended by industrial and agricultural workers. The rally’s starting point would the Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum and it would head towards the Karachi Press Club.