April 15, 2003	Tuesday	Safar 12, 1424

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QUETTA, April 14: A complete strike was observed on Monday in Dera Bugti tribal agency including Sui area, to register their protest against Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) for not implementing an agreement signed with the Bugti tribe.

All shopping centres, markets, shops and bazaars remained closed throughout the day in the tribal district while traffic also remained suspended between Dera Bugti and other areas of the province.

Protest rallies were also staged in Dera Bugti and Sui township. The protesting people in Sui gas field and Sui gas plants marched on various roads carrying placards and banners inscribed with their demands.

The participants of the protest processions shouted slogans against the officials of the PPL, SSGC and administration in front of the Sui Gas plant in Sui. Later the protest rallies converted into a public meeting in Sui.

Addressing the meeting, Shahzad Bugti, Central Secretary-General of the PPL Workers’ Union, strongly criticized the attitude of the company towards workers and said that they had played vital role in the progress of the company.

“We can achieve our rights within a few seconds tribally but we do not want to do so,” he said, adding that they wanted their rights through legal and constitutional way.

“We consider the Sui gas purification plant as ‘sacred cow’ and with slaughtering it could not be milked,” Shahzad Bugti said.

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