SUKKUR, Nov 8: Leaders of the workers union of Qadirpur gas field announced they would move a constitutional petition in the Sindh High Court against the government’s decision to privatise the gas field, as officers joined hundreds of workers who protested against the sale of national entity on Saturday.

The protesters joined by area people held a demonstration, a sit-in and a token hunger strike in front of the main gate of the gas field with renewed pledge that they would lay down their lives to stop sale of the gas field.

Union leaders and officers slammed the government for privatising the gas field, which according to them, was not only was providing gas to a large population in Sindh and Punjab, but was also earning huge profits for the country.

They said that Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto had inaugurated the gas field in 1995 and called it a gift for the people of Sindh. It was surprising why the government was bent on selling it, they said.

They urged the government to shelve its decision on privatisation and take measures to enhance production of the gas field, which would not only would add to revenue generation but would also cerate more jobs.

They said that selling the gas field, which was earning Rs36 billion per year profit, 65 per cent of total profit of OGDCL was not a wise decision. They warned that they would never allow its privatisation and would even sacrifice their lives to stop its sale.

If the government did not reverse its decision then it would have to face strong resistance throughout the country, they said.

KARO-KARI: A man killed his teenaged niece and another man over suspicions she had illicit relation with him in Tayyab village in the limits of Rustam police station near Lakhi Ghulam Shah on Saturday night.