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SUKKUR, Sept 5: The chairman, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaaz, Bashir Qureshi, along with hundreds of workers of his party held a one-hour sit-in at well No52 and 86 of the Mari Gas Field on Friday in protest against its management for recruiting people from other provinces.
Mr Qureshi warned the management of the Mari Gas Field to stop recruitments from other provinces and stop taking retaliatory action against the workers, otherwise work there would be brought to a halt.
He demanded that jobs be provided to the local people.
Earlier, Bashir Qureshi met with a peasant leader, Mandhal Shar, who apprised him about the situation prevailing in the area. Mr Qureshi assured the latter that he was not alone in his struggle as the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaaz was with him.
On the occasion, they demanded the Federal Government and Sindh Government to take notice of the atrocities at the Mari Gas Field and of the police officials who had targeted innocent villagers and had killed a woman, Manzooran.
They called on Sohrab Shar, husband of the woman killed, and offered him their condolence.
PETITION FILED: Meanwhile, Zarqa Shar, daughter of Mandhal Shar, has filed a constitutional petition against the DPO, Ghotki, Aftab Ahmed Halepoto, and the SHO, Yaroo Lund, stating that on Aug 11, when the villagers were holding a protest against the management of the Mari Gas Field, the DPO, Ghotki, directed the SHO to open fire on the protesters as a result of which Manzooran was killed.
NOTICES ISSUED: A double bench of the Sindh High Court, Sukkur, comprising Justice Zahid Qurban Alvi and Justice Maqbool Baqar, after hearing the arguments of Zarqa Shar’s lawyer, Mr Saifuddin, issued notices to the DPO and the SHO to appear before the court on Sept 12.
ANOTHER PETITION FILED: On the other hand, Naveed Shar, son of Mandhal Shar, has also filed another petition in the Sindh High Court, Sukkur, against the management of the Mari Gas Field and the DPO, Ghotki, in which he has stated that
the DPO on the instigation of the Mari Gas Field management had cordoned off the Karohi village illegally since last month.
He said that due to the police action the villagers were facing great hardships in their daily life, and added that they were not even being allowed to take their ailing children to nearby hospitals.
SUMMONED: The judges of the Sindh High Court, Sukkur bench, asked the parties concerned to appear before the court on Sept 9.
MARI GAS FIELD VERSION: Meanwhile, spokesman and administration officer of the Mari Gas Field, Muneer Memon, rejected all the allegations levelled against them in the press saying that these were one-sided reports.
He said, “We have not taken any land without giving compensation to the owners, and Mandhal Shar and his son are blackmailing the management of the Mari Gas Field.”
He said that there were other tribes settled in the area,
including Mahar, Pitafi and Leghari, and it would be better for the press to meet them so that the true picture of the happenings could come to light.
He said that newsmen from Sukkur and other parts of interior Sindh had been invited so that they could be briefed about the actual facts.
He charged that Jamal Nasir had many friends (in Sukkur) who were reporting a one-sided story.
He, however, admitted that in today’s demonstration the work on some wells was stopped for the time being.
He said that the company owned at least 100 wells and work on all the wells was running smoothly under the watchful eye of police and other law enforcing agencies.
