The sacked employees of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) have termed the government's decision of reinstating them as highly pro-worker policy and said that this sets aside the economic and political victimisation of the previous regime. Expressing sense of jubilation, they said that the government won the hearts and minds of the working class, by giving them their due rights.
Last week, the cabinet had approved a plan to reinstate more than 7,000 government employees sacked between November 1996 and December 1999. The Ministry of Law would soon complete the draft of an Ordinance to implement the measure. Zulfiqar Qadri, Chairman of the Sacked SSGC Employees Action Committee said that they were dismissed due to political bias of succeeding rulers after toppling of the PPP government in 1996.
'All of us were recruited purely on merit basis during the second PPP government and we come from very less privileged areas of Balochistan, Sindh, NWFP and Southern Punjab,' Qadri said APP at the Parliament House on Sunday.
Benazir Bhutto was the symbol of federation's unity and she always identified herself with the poor people of Pakistan and dreamt of the rule of masses.
'But, unfortunately we were deprived of our jobs by the succeeding ruling parties and who are still opposing our reinstatement,' he remarked.
Muktiar Shah from Sukkur said that they had won the cases in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Federal Services Tribunal, even the apex court bench led by former Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chawdhry had recommended to the then PML-Q led government for their reinstatement. 'Its surprising that the political figures advocating for restoration of former CJ are opposing implementation of his decisions in our favour,' he said.
Munawar Thaheem said that all who were appointed during the Benazir Bhutto's second government mostly belonged to humble background and their families had to suffer a lot after their dismissal.
Our families faced severe financial problems and some of our colleagues were even compelled to commit suicides owing to the stress of losing their jobs,' Sher Muhammed Baloch from Sibi said. Further, 'We had to sell the ornaments of our sisters and mothers to pay the fees of lawyers during our stay in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi for protests,' he recalled.
'Today, the opposition leaders and some media circles are trying to snatch our bread. Please stop this dirty blame game against us that we are corrupt and non-qualified,' Gul Hassan Mari said.
President, Asif Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and the cabinet had fulfilled the Benazir's dream of restoring us during election campaign, Rafeeq Ahmed said.
GM Saand, another employee, told that he was from a rural area of Sindh and he had been selling tamed animals to pay fees of legal counsel when the case was in the court.