Strike if LHC bench not set up: Faisalabad trade bodies

FAISALABAD: If the government did not accept the demand for establishment of the Lahore High Court Bench here, trade bodies of Faisalabad division will launch strike.

It was announced at a joint session of the local trade bodies and the chamber members at the FCCI meeting here on Tuesday. The participants of the joint meeting said that establishment of the High Court Bench at Faisalabad was must for speedy justice to 15 million people of Faisalabad Region. Addressing the meeting, FCCI president Syed Zia Alamdar Hussain said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had also supported their demand but now the people were being offered to accept only a registry office of the High Court instead of a full-fledged Divisional Bench of the Lahore High Court.

He said that the registry office was neither our demand nor it fulfills the requirement of the people of Faisalabad division who want justice at their doorstep. He said that some mafias were opposing this genuine demand for their own vested interests. He said that the Lahore High Court was currently responsible for provision of justice to 50 million population of this area. He said that the Islamabad High Court had been established for only 2 million population, whereas the population of Faisalabad city alone was around 4 million, excluding its tehsils and rural areas.

He told that unjustified administrative decisions were fomenting sense of deprivation and the people had been forced to think that they were being denied of their genuine right as compared to other areas of the province.

Syed Zia Alamdar Hussain said that the demand of the High Court Bench was the unanimous demand of the people of Faisalabad Division and it should not be ignored by tagging it as a demand of lawyers alone. He said that the government should immediately accept it and direct the concerned quarters to establish the bench at the earliest. Rohail Zafar, DBA secretary, said that the lawyers’ community was on strike for the last two months. He said that the people were denied of justice. He said that some elements had floated a mischievous stunt of the establishment of a registry just to hijack the actual demand of the Divisional Bench. He said that unity among lawyers, business community and people at large had foiled this conspiracy and now all segments were unanimously demanding that they would not accept any other alternative to the Divisional Bench.

He said that delay in the establishment of the bench was eroding the political prestige of the government and the people were forced to think that the present government was also towing the same policy of wait and see. Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association Senior Vice-Chairman Kashif Zia, All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association chairman Engineer Rizwan Ashraf, APTPMA regional chairman Habib Ahmad Gujjar, All Pakistan Cotton Powerlooms Association chairman Khalid Mehmood Cheema, All Pakistan Sizing Industries Association chairman Zahid Rasheed, the Foundry & Engineering Industry Owners Association president and others also participated in the meeting. The representatives of the trade bodies unanimously resolved that they would not accept any alternative to the High Court Bench at Faisalabad and they were ready to go on strike if the government fails to respond positively to their peaceful struggle.

RS2.5M CHEQUE FOR COP: The CPO on Tuesday handed over a cheque of Rs 2.5 million to police head constable Muhammad Afzal who is a cancer patient.

Out of this monetary assistance, Rs 1 million has been given by the Punjab government while the local police donated Rs 1.5 million out of their benevolent fund. The CPO also visited the Allied Hospital where a SI Ejaz Ahmad is under treatment who was injured during a police encounter few days ago. The CPO inquired after the health of injured SI and asked the doctors for proper treatment of the cop.

MAN SHOT DEAD: A man was shot dead by his three nephews over enmity at Chak 275 on Tuesday.

Sarfraz Khan was allegedly shot dead by his nephews, Imran, Gulzar and Shamoon, with the help of their brother-in-law Muhammad Yasin. The reason of the incident is said to be that Sarfraz Khan had allegedly murdered the father of the accused persons some time back. The police have registered a case.