Textile mills shut across the country in protest

FAISALABAD/KARACHI All the textile mills remained closed throughout the country on Tuesday in the wake of a strike call given by Value-Added Textile Forum against the yarn and cotton crisis and power load shedding.

Value-Added Textile Forum sources told TheNation that complete strike was observed in Faisalabad as well as in the country by the textile sector while some 10,000 textile mills were totally closed in Faisalabad including 400 stitching, 300 dying, 450 printing, 1,000 hosiery and 350 sizing units.

Rallies were organised in all the four districts of Faisalabad division including Jhang, Chiniot, Toba Tek Singh and Faisalabad districts. Protest were also reported from other major cities including Karachi, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Multan.

Most of the rallies were led by the factory owners. Thousands of textile workers took part in the rallies. The protesters carried banners and placards inscribed with slogans: ‘Save the Textile Industry, Save the Country and Clamp Complete ban on export of cotton and yarn’.

The activists also chanted slogans against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Zardari. The workers warned the government of dire consequences, asserting they would not allow anyone to play with the livelihood of the laborers.

Thousands of workers and owners of value-added textile sector took out protest processions from various places and blocked the city roads. The main protest procession was taken out from Khurrianwala Industrial Estate, which was led by Chairman Pakistan Textile Exporters Association Khurram Mukhtar and Vice Chairman Sohail Pasha and other leaders of Value-Added Textile Forum. The rally demanded total ban on export of yarn with a view to saving the industry from collapse and the workers jobs.

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