Date:13/06/2005 URL:
http://www.thehindu.com/2005/06/13/stories/2005061304631400.htm
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Front Page
Troops seize Pakistan telecom ahead of strike
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces seized control of the national
telecoms firm and netted scores of trade union leaders on Sunday after
they
called a strike against the company's privatisation next week, officials
and
union leaders said.
The deployment of troops and police officers follows the
Government's
announcement on Saturday that bids would be invited to invest in 26 per
cent
of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd. (PTCL) on June 18.
The Government had earlier postponed the privatisation of the
country's largest telecoms company to end a 10-day standoff with 55,000
PTCL
workers.
Military officials said security forces had taken control of key
PTCL
installations in major cities while police and paramilitary rangers were
posted to check on the law and order situation. ``We have sent our experts
from the Corps of Signals on the request of the PTCL authorities to take
control of all im****tant installations,'' said military spokesman Colonel
Idrees Malik.
Witnesses said troops arriving in machine-gun fitted vehicles took
control of telephone exchanges and vital installations in major cities of
the populous Punjab province.
``We have asked the staff to perform their duties as usual,'' an
army
officer in the central city of Multan said.
``However we would not let them switch off or discontinue the
telecom
system in any case.''
Union leaders have threatened to paralyse the service if the
decision
is not withdrawn by Wednesday. However the Government has refused to back
down. A PTCL employees action committee said about 150 had been detained
in
the police crackdown against union leaders and workers across the country.
300 workers held
In a pre-emptive move against a planned strike at Pakistan's largest
state-run telephone company, authorities have detained more than 300
workers
and security forces have been deployed at the providers' facilities, a
union
leader said on Sunday. The Government plans to sell off 26 per cent of
shares in Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd. (PTCL) next Saturday and
union leaders fear job losses despite Government assurances.
Union leader Shahid Ayub claimed more than 300 workers were detained
countrywide over the weekend for ``disturbing peace.''
Authorities have confirmed dozens of arrests and that troops have
been
sent to PTCL facilities after union leaders threatened to disrupt
telephone
facilities unless the privatization plan is withdrawn by June 15.
On Saturday, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Minister for Privatization and
Investment, announced that bidding for PTCL would take place next
Saturday.
Mr. Ayub criticissed the proposed sale.
``This is a profit earning organisation. There is no ground for it
to
be sold. There will be no security for thousands of its workers and they
will be made jobless,'' he said.
- AP
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