The workers of Pakistan Steel mills (PSM) were holding an entirely peaceful demonstration demanding salaries pending from six months and had blocked the National Highway, when police resorted to baton charges and tear gas shelling to disperse them.
Protesting workers had earlier started demonstrating at the main gate of PSM, but later came up to the National Highway and blocked it causing a halt in traffic. Long queues could be seen on the highway.
Police held talks with the leaders of the workers but failed to convince them to end the blockade of the road. After a while, the police suddenly baton-charged them while simultaneously shelling them with tear gas. The demonstrators pelted police with stones in reply turning the national highway into a battlefield.
Earlier, the PTI leader, Haleem Adil Sheikh, addressing the protesters said that the rulers could run their own steel mills in Dubai and Saudi Arabia but could not run country’s steel mills.
Protesters demanded that despite an announcement by the government to the effect, salaries had not been released yet; they vowed that the strike would continue tomorrow, and the day after, and on until their demands are met.