NAWABSHAH, Jan 10: Thousands of farmers on Friday blocked the National Highway at Qazi Ahmed for over three hours to protest against the managements of the three sugar mills for not paying the government-fixed price for sugarcane.

The sugar mills of Nawabshah, against whom they staged the protest, are: the Habib Sugar Mills, the Sakrand Sugar Mills and the Al-Noor Sugar Mills.

Participants of different rallies of growers from all over Nawabshah district converged at Qazi Ahmed and blocked the National Highway by parking their tractors and tractor-trolleys on the road. The protesters also staged a sit-in there.

A heavy police contingent was deployed to avoid any untoward situation.

Speaking on the occasion, president of the Sindh Abadgar Board, Nawabshah, Syed Zain Shah, accused the three sugar mills of the district of violating the law by rejecting the decision of the chief minister of Sindh.

He further demanded of the chef minister of SIndh to step down as he could not get his decision implemented.

Shah also accused the sugar mills owners of dishonesty, saying that they had agreed to pay Rs43 per 40kg in the Jan 4 meeting but were not paying the same to the growers.

He said that the growers were united and would force the mills to pay the price fixed by the government.

A local grower, Sher Mohammad Rind, said that the growers would not accept the zoning system, being implemented by the sugar mills.

The district general secretary of the Sindh Abadgar Board, Syed Zahid Shah, said that the protest was just the tip of the iceberg, adding that the protest would spread over a wider area if the mills did not respond.

Syed Munir Shah, Noor Muhammad Shah, Dr Bahadur Dahri, Hassan Dahri and Syed Basheer Ahmed Shah also spoke on the occasion.

Other speakers urged the chief minister and the governor of Sindh to intervene for the resolution of their problems otherwise they would have to bear huge financial losses.

Meanwhile, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Nawabshah, supported the growers and assured them of standing by their side to resolve their problems on an urgent basis.

ROBBERY: Three unidentified armed men snatched a motorcycle (KAV-9570) on Thursday from Mazhar Abbas Zaidi, while he was on his way to his home in Linepar, Nawabshah.