APC declaration says national institutions are property of the masses, can’t be sold on rulers’ whims
An anti-privatisation All Parties Conference (APC) organised by Jamat-e-Islami (JI)’s Lahore chapter on Sunday demanded of the government to review and withdraw its decision of the privatisation of major national institutions and convene a meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) to decide a line of action through consensus with other major political parties.
The moot attended by major political parties and labour leaders adopted a joint declaration which stated that the PIA and other major national institutions were the property of the masses and could not be sold out at the whim of the rulers.
The joint declaration also demanded to bring the culprits who killed three PIA employees to justice and to award exemplary punishment to them. The declaration called for the removal of the Essential Services Act which the government had imposed on PIA recently. It also demanded the release of the arrested union leaders.
The APC was chaired by JI Secretary General, Liaqat Baloch. The speakers included PTI MPA Mian Mehmudur Rashid, PPP’s Zahid Zukfikar, Alama Zubair Ahmed Zaheer, JUI’s Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Nizami, PIA Peoples Unity President Kashif Rana, PIACE President Javed Chaudhry, Hafiz Salman Butt, PREM Union’s Sheikh Muhammad Anwar, WAPDA Paigham Union’s Ehsan Chaudhry and Lahore Bar Association former vice president Ziaud Din Ansari. They announced all-out support for PIA employees in their fight against the selling off of their institution.
Liaqat Baloch pointed out that the rulers had already sold out several national institutions on throwaway prices and were now planning to privatise more than 60 other national assets. He said that the government was claiming that the privatisation was being done for the betterment of these institutions while in fact it was being done under IMF’s pressure.
He said that the issue had been grossly mishandled and already three PIA employees had been martyred while more than seventy others had been injured. He deplored that the prime minister, rather than feeling sorry for the killings, had issued a provocative speech threatening the striking workers to be put behind the bars.
PTI leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Mian Mehmudur Rashid said the government was claiming that the PIA was in loss due to over employment. He said that if there was corruption in the PIA, the government was to be blamed for that. He said that the proposal of setting up another airline was also imprudent and reflected the dishonest approach of the rulers in this regard.
JI Lahore Chief Zikrullah Mujahid said that the entire process of privatisation in the country had so far lacked transparency and the PIA’s problems included colossal mismanagement and huge plunder of its resources for which no body was ready to accept responsibility.
National Labour Federation Secretary General Hafiz Salman Butt said that the PREM Union members would observe Black Day against privatisation all over the country on February 10.
