A severe flour shortage is feared across the country, including Sindh, as the indefinite nationwide strike called by the Pakistan Flour Mills Association entered its third day on Saturday.
The millers are protesting against the withholding tax imposed in the recent federal budget.
Addressing an emergency meeting of Sindh’s flour millers in Karachi on Friday, Flour Mills Sindh Circle Chairman Chaudhry Amir Abdullah vowed to continue the struggle regardless of the challenges. “The fact that all flour mill owners from the province are present at today’s meeting is proof of our unity,” he said. He added, “We will remain on strike until our demands are met.”
Chaudhry Amir noted that despite two days having passed, the government had not initiated any negotiations with the flour millers.
Meanwhile, laborers have been left jobless as flour mills remain closed across Sindh.
Flour mill owners initiated the strike on Thursday morning in response to the Pakistan Flour Mills Association’s call, asserting that they would persist until the government withdrew the newly imposed taxes.
Earlier, the Association had announced the strike on July 6, effective Thursday, for an indefinite period after unsuccessful talks with the government. They had given the government five days to withdraw the taxes.
