KARACHI: With flight operations suspended across the country for the fifth consecutive day, talks between protesting workers of the Pakistan International Airlines and the federal government hit a snag on Saturday as both sides seemed unwilling to budge from their positions.

The protesters also managed to get an FIR registered against key government functionaries and top management of the airline regarding Tuesday’s firing incident that had claimed the lives of two PIA employees on the first day of the protest. However, no personnel of the Sindh Rangers was named in the FIR.

On Friday night, the two sides, headed by the Minister of State for privatization, Muhammad Zubair, and chairman of the Joint Action Committee of PIA employees, Captain Sohail Baloch, held talks and agreed to continue the dialogue.

FIR registered against PML-N leaders, airline’s management

However, no meeting took place on Saturday as the government insisted that the employees unconditionally resume flight operations before coming back to the negotiating table. The demand was immediately rejected by the workers, who instead asked the government to reverse the plan to privatise the national flag carrier if it wanted a dialogue.

The government has so far failed to evolve a strategy to resolve the impasse that has resulted in the cancellation of over 500 domestic and international flights, causing extreme inconvenience and mental agony to thousands of passengers.

PTI chief joins protest

Wearing black armbands and shouting anti-government slogans, hundreds of PIA workers once again gathered at the old terminal on Saturday morning to stage a sit-in.

Later, they were joined by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, who flew down to Karachi to show solidarity with the protesters and condole the killings of their two colleagues.

Amid loud slogans and clapping, Mr Khan took the opportunity to criticise the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government for “selling the PIA to a private party” instead of turning it into a profitable organisation.

“A private party would come and fix the management as it’s a simple rule of turning around any loss-making institution. My question is why can’t you [government] do this simple job? Why have you failed to fix the PIA during your two-and-half-year rule?”

PML-N leaders nominated in FIR

Airport Police on Saturday registered a case (FIR 19/2016) against PML-N leaders Senator Mushahidullah Khan, Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed, adviser to the prime minister on aviation Shujaat Azeem and others for their alleged involvement in Tuesday’s firing incident that led to the killing of two PIA employees.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of Captain Sohail Baloch, who did not name any official of the Rangers despite the fact that he had earlier blamed the paramilitary force for the killings.

The FIR contends that the firing was a “well-planned conspiracy” hatched by Senator Mushahidullah, Mr Rasheed, aviation advisor Azeem and other senior members of the PIA management.

“The FIR has been registered under Sections 302 [premeditated murder], 324 [attempted murder], 120-B [criminal conspiracy] and 34 [common intention] of the Pakistan Penal Code,” the JAC lawyer Sheikh Javed Meer said.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association (Palpa) in a statement said that the pilots were neither instrumental in halting the flight operations nor could they alone resume it.

Condemning the threats given to its president, Amir Hashmi, allegedly from the JAC platform, Palpa urged the government to resolve the issue so that flight operations could resume at the earliest.

However, JAC representative Nasrullah Afridi denied that any threats had been given to the Palpa president.

Our staff reporter in Lahore adds: The ongoing strike by the employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has left around 1,300 passengers stranded in Jeddah.

“Some 700 PIA passengers returned yesterday, while the remaining 1,300 will be back home by Saudi Airlines flights in a couple of days,” a PIA official told Dawn on Saturday.

To a question why they were still stuck there despite the PIA’s arrangement with Saudi Airlines, he said that foreign airlines had been requested to bring back the PIA passengers at the earliest.

Though the PIA management has signed an agreement with Saudi Airlines and Eithad Airways as well as private airlines, Air Blue and Shaheen Airlines, to facilitate its passengers with confirmed bookings, these airlines are not honouring the commitment, he lamented.

“We have received a number of complaints in this regard. Therefore, we have asked the passengers to buy tickets of these airlines, which the PIA would refund once the strike is over,” the official said.

Affected passengers were found at the counters of these airlines, arguing with the staff to accommodate them.

“We cannot accommodate PIA passengers because it requires verification which is not possible as PIA employees are on strike,” an official of a private airlines told Dawn.

“This is why our staff is telling PIA passengers to buy our tickets,” he added.

Airport Security Force had cancelled airport entry passes of all PIA employees while the management has advised those interested in resuming duties to contact their respective station managers.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2016