DADU: Members of the Flour Mill Owners Association staged a protest demonstration, carrying placards, against what they called unjust actions by the local food department, and later held a sit-in on Kachahri Road.

Flour mill owners Irfan Shaikh, Gul Hassan Panhwar, Afzal Korejo, Saleem Panhwar, Manzoor Chandio and others also addressed an emergency press conference. They alleged that the Dadu district food controller and the Hyderabad region deputy director food had jointly conspired to take unjust action against mill owners in the district, which they strongly rejected.

The leaders said mills and millstones had been removed without any proper reason, destroying the businesses and livelihoods of many traders.

They said the department’s biased attitude had spread severe distress, despair and anger among mill owners.

Claim scores of factories already closed to escape action

They announced that a strike and peaceful protest against the department’s policies would continue from today (Thursday).

They said Dadu district previously had 293 flour mills, of which 45 had been shut down, leaving 252 operating. They claimed the department’s allegedly wrong policies had left nearly 5,000 labourers jobless, creating livelihood problems

for thousands of families. Terming the action anti-labour, they demanded immediate intervention by the Sindh government.

The mill owners further said that the Sindh government, despite purchasing a bag of wheat at Rs8,750, had fixed its price at Rs12,500.

They alleged that instead of providing a subsidy, it was placing an additional burden of Rs3,750 per bag on farmers.

They said the government had announced that wheat would be released from Oct 15, but none had been released as of Oct 28.

The leaders said that, despite the lack of wheat releases, the Dadu Flour Mill Association was setting up cheap flour stalls across the district, benefiting thousands of citizens.

They said their protest was not based on personal enmity or stubbornness but on the protection of their legitimate rights, livelihood and honour.

They would not remain silent in the face of injustice, they said, and would remain peaceful, united and steadfast until their rights were restored.

The mill owners demanded that the Sindh government immediately accept the association’s legitimate demands, take notice of the alleged injustices by the food department and take effective steps to save thousands of labourers from unemployment, warning that the strike and protest would otherwise continue.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026