THATTA, Feb 4: Former employees of the Thatta Sugar Mills took out a procession here on Friday to put pressure on the authorities to accept their demand to either reopen the mill or offer them a golden handshake package.

Led by the chairman of the former employees' action committee, Syed Asadullah Shah, the procession initiated from the Shaikh Farid Chowk and, after marching through main thoroughfares, ended outside the local press club. There the protesters staged a sit-in on the National Highway, which resulted in suspension of the vehicular traffic for about one hour.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Shah said the Sindh government had demonstrated its inability to tackle the issue by not responding to their weekly protest. He announced that a token hunger strike would be observed here on February 6 to build up pressure on the authorities to accept their demands.

PPP: Peoples Party Parliamentarians MPA Sassui Palijo has said that her party will retain a majority of seats in the local bodies' elections in Thatta district. She was speaking at a party meeting in Mirpur Sakro on Friday.