ISLAMABAD, March 26: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto has condemned sacking of 153 workers of a sugar mill in Nawabshah, Sindh, without any prior notice.

In a statement on Tuesday, she also expressed shock and grief over the death of a sugar mill worker due to shock over termination of his services.

According to reports, on March 19, the management of the sugar mill terminated services of 153 employees without any notice/charge sheet, only by publishing their names in a Sindhi daily.

After hearing the news, a mill worker, Aslam Rajput, had a severe shock, which ultimately claimed his life.

Moreover, police reportedly baton-charged the workers and opened fire at them while they were taking Aslam’s body to his house, resulting in serious injuries to four men. The police also refused to register an FIR by the protesting workers.

In her statement, Ms Bhutto deplored that since the PPP government was removed through undemocratic means, thousands of low-paid workers had been thrown out of jobs in all provinces, mostly in Sindh.

She called for reinstatement of the sacked workers and registration of FIR against those responsible.

In a separate message to Fajar Din Rajput, the father of the deceased worker, she condoled the death of his son.

Meanwhile, the PPP has asked the government to probe allegations of corruption in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), where a senior retired military officer is allegedly involved in favouritism and corruption in giving reserved jobs for Sindhis to non-deserving people.

The matter came to the PPP notice, when a Sindhi graduate, Shahab Mangi, wrote an open letter to General Musharraf, seeking justice. Copies of the letter, posted on the net, were also addressed to the secretary defence, NAB chairman, 5th corps commander and many others.

The youth alleged that illegal appointments were being made in the authority, since a retired military officer took over as general manager at the authority’s headquarters in Karachi. Merit and quota requirements had been discarded as the general manager was minting millions, he further alleged.— Reporter