Faisalabad: Several workers have been injured by police tear gas shelling and firing and stone throwing. Rana Tahir, district president of Labour Qaumi Movement is one of them. Over 100 workers have been arrested so for. Workers are out in thousands from different parts of Faisalabad to reach the city center.
The newly appointed police chief of Faisalabad is famous for fake police encounters and is showing mussels now to the working class movement. He is been brought in to “control” the labour movement. Punjab Government cannot go very far on this road of repression.
Labour Party Pakistan has appeal to all its supporters to denounce the use of police force against workers and condemn the actions of repression.
At least two district of Punjab have aroused in terms of class struggle. Power looms workers in district Jhang are on strike for the last fifteen days. In Faisalabad, over 100,000 workers have started their strike today despite all the police threats and heavy rains. Workers have started their processions from different parts of the city to reach the center of Faisalabad despite an imposition of section 144 that ban gathering of five or more in public places.
Today, the power looms bosses in Jhang district have paid a half page advertisement in Daily Express Faisalabad asking government to suppress the workers movement. The bosses claimed that 15 days strike has cost them over 9 billion Rupees and 15000 power looms factories are closed. They appealed the government to safe Jhang becoming anther Karachi.
LQM is an independent labour organization of mainly power looms and textile workers and the leadership is members of Labour Party Pakistan. The advertisement is an attempt to smear the LQM leadership and to provoke the Punjab government against the working class movement.
In Faisalabad, the local administration has imposed section 144 to stop workers marching to city center. They had used all the SHO in different areas top pressurize the workers for cancelations of the strike. The LQM leadership refused yesterday all the fake assurances of the local administration for mediation between bosses and workers. They have used this tactics several times and LQM postponed their planned actions. One such action of a strike was on 5th July, which was postponed on the assurances of the administration. Very next day, two leaders of LQM were gunned down in one of their offices.
There is no way back. LPP appeals to all its supporters to use all means to support the working class movement in Faisalabad and Jhang.
July 20, 2010
Indus Asia Online Journal (Click here to go to home page)