Unlawful behaviour: Awami Tehreek strike against workers’ arrest

Up to 117 workers arrested, says its vice president.

HYDERABAD: The Awami Tehreek (AT) will observe a strike in Sindh, today and on January 31, in protest against the assault and arrest of its workers during the Save Sindh Committee’s strike on Saturday. The strike was observed against the 20th Amendment bill introduced by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in the National Assembly for the creation of new province.

The AT’s president Ayaz Latif Palijo, at a press conference on Sunday, appealed to the Supreme Court chief justice to take notice of the illegal detention of political workers and disturbance at the rally by law enforcers.

Palijo warned that if the bill is not withdrawn by the Pakistan Peoples Party and its allies, the nationalists will call for a civil disobedience movement during which ‘the people will fill the jails and permanently block the National Highway’.

The party’s vice president, Abdul Qadir Ranto, said that at least 117 workers have been arrested.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2012.