LAHORE, Jan 24: The Awami Workers Party (AWP) has slammed Minister of State for Finance Salim Mandviwala’s announcement that the FIR against the owners of a factory in Karachi’s Baldia Town has been withdrawn.

About 300 workers were burnt alive when a fire erupted in the factory some months ago.

The AWP demanded that the decision, which had apparently been made by the prime minister, be reversed with immediate effect and inquiries be made about the “attempt to subvert the rule of law”.

AWP leaders Abid Hasan Minto, Nasir Mansoor and Aasim Sajjad say the refusal of the government to take action against the capitalist lobbies responsible for the worst industrial disaster in Pakistan’s history speaks volumes about its commitments to the working-class.

They say the unspeakable circumstances in which the workers of Baldia Town factory lost their lives have been quickly swept under the carpet amid arm-twisting by the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

They say that democracy is facing crisis in Pakistan not only because of the manipulations of the military establishment but also because of elected politicians’ disinterest in pro-people legislation. The absence of labour laws and government’s capitulation to dictates of both local industrialists and international financial institutions is indicative of the failures of the so-called champions of democracy in Pakistan.

The AWP has called upon the Supreme Court to take notice of this attempt to undermine the due process and free those responsible for the deaths of 300 workers.