HYDERABAD, April 1: After delaying start of crushing season by one and a half month the sugar mills in the province are now opting for early closure, adding to growers’ woes, many of whom have still not harvested the sugarcane crop in hope of a rise in prices.

The sugar mills had started crushing season one and a half month late towards the end of November 2007 and refused to purchase the sugarcane at the official rate. The government had first fixed the rate at Rs67 per 40 kilogrammes and later reduced it to Rs63 per 40 kg in the face of pressure from the mills.

Of the 30 sugar mills in the province three namely, Najma Sugar Mill in Jhuddo, Deewan Sugar Mill in Jherruk and Digri Sugar Mill in Digri have already closed down while the rest are expected to follow them suit.

The abrupt closure might be the mills’ way to settle score with the growers who refused to supply them sugarcane at very low rates, said Muhammad Khan Sarejo, and office-bearer of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture.

He said the mills closure would definitely inflict huge financial losses amounting to billions of rupees on the growers who were still smarting from the huge loss caused by delayed start of crushing season.

The crushing season should close on April 15 had it started on Oct 1, but since it had delayed by more than a month, the growers were rightly expecting that it would continue till May 2008, he said.

He demanded that the Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani should order the sugar mills not to opt for early closure and save the growers from another loss, which might prove too much for them.—PPI

SEMINAR: Quad-i-Azam was not only great politician and statesman but also a great exponent of Muslim unity, said noted historian and intellectual, Dr Mohammad Ali Siddiqui in his keynote address at one-day seminar on “Pakistan Day in the light of recent Indian studies,” reports our Hyderabad bureau.

The seminar was organized by the Pakistan Study Centre, University of Sindh, on Monday and largely attended by scholars, faculty members and students from different teaching departments of the university.

Dr Siddiqui, author of 14 books on Pakistan movement and history said the Sindh Assembly was the first to pass the resolution for creation of Pakistan. The learned scholar extensively quoted from number of books published in India which laid blame on Congress for the rejection of Cabinet Mission Plan by Mr Jinnah. He said by accepting the Cabinet Mission Plan, Quaid-i-Azam had accepted the unity of India and given up demand for Pakistan. He said the great Muslim leader never compromised on principles and his stature was very high.

He said Mr Jinnah opposed the introduction of religion in Indian politics and resigned from Congress in 1920 in protest against Gandhi’s concept of Ram Raj in Nagpur session in 1920.

Dr Siddiqui urged the Pakistan study centres to update with recent publications on Pakistan movement and struggle so that research scholars could benefit.

Sindh University Vice-Chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui appreciated efforts of the Pakistan Study Centre for organizing seminars on such important subject for the benefit of scholars and students.

Pakistan Study Centre Director Dr Khalida Jamali highlighted teaching and research activities and publications.

Professor Ghulam Hussain Khaskheli, Dr Mehtab Ali Shah, Dr Mohammad Yaqoob Mughal, Prof Lal Jiskani, Dr Farzana Baloch and other scholars also shared their views.