Like other parts of the country, International Labour Day was also observed in the federal capital on Tuesday with a large number of rallies taken out by various organisations working for the rights of labour.
In this connection, a joint rally by the labourers of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), Pak PWD, OGDCL, ZTBL and several others organisations was organised. It started from Aabpara Market and culminated near the parliament house. A large number of labourers participated in the rally.
They paid homage to the sacrifices of Chicago martyrs, saying that they had set a glorious example for all times to come for the working class. The labourers were of the view that the Chicago martyrs had created history by sacrificing their lives without compromising on principles.
Speaking on the occasion, CDA Mazdoor Union General Secretary Chaudhry Muhammad Yaseen said that the labour community in the country had been working in the insecure environment due to the anti-poor policies of the leaders.
“It has now become difficult for poor labourers to even feed their families due to the rising inflation, load-shedding, terrorism and unjust privatisation of the state run institutions,” said Yaseen.
The labour leaders went on saying; “The people sitting in the parliament take no interest in the plight being faced by the people who earn their livelihoods through hard work”. The labour community demanded of the government to increase their salaries in the next fiscal budget according to the rate of increase in inflation. A separate rally was also taken out by the Awami Party Pakistan to press the government for accepting the demands of labourers serving in the government organisations. Speaking on the occasion, human right activist Farzana Bari said that the government would have to take some practical steps for the welfare of the labour community as well as the poor of the country.
She said that free education, health insurance, electricity, gas and other basic amenities were responsibility of every state and the Pakistani government should not deprive its citizens of these basic rights.
It is pertinent to mention that the International Labour Day is the commemoration of the 1886 massacre in Chicago, which occurred after an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they dispersed a public assembly during a general strike for the eight-hour workday. In response, the Chicago police fired on the workers, killing dozens of demonstrators and several of their own officers. In 1889, the first congress of the second international meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. May Day was formally recognised as an annual event at the second congress in 1891.
Car thieves’ gang busted; 2 cars seized: Aabpara police busted a gang of car thieves and recovered two cars and as many CNG kits from three gangsters, a police spokesman said on Tuesday.
He said that a team of Aabara police, headed by SHO Khalid Mehmud Awan, managed to bust a gang of auto-thieves and recovered two cars from three gangsters identified as Nisar Ahmed, Saeed and Afzal.
The thieves confessed during the initial investigation that they had taken away seven cars from various areas, including Sector G-6 in Islamabad. The police have so far succeeded in recovering two cars and two CNG kits of vehicles from their possession. Further investigation is underway from them.
