Furniture makers in Mansehra protest against ‘unjustified’ crackdown

MANSEHRA: The furniture makers on Thursday took to the streets against what they called unjustified crackdown launched by the Forest Department. The protesters assembled outside the deputy commissioner office and raised slogans against the authorities concerned.

"We are neither involved in any sort of timber smuggling nor purchasing suspicious timber. But officials removed our small saw machines causing us financial losses," Mohammad Sajid, the president of Furniture Makers Association, told the rally.

"We have registered our small saw machines with the Forest Department but even then our community is being harassed," said another speaker, Riaz. The association's general secretary Mohammad Javed said that if the ongoing harassment of their community didn't come to an end, they would appeal to the court of law. Speaking on the occasion, the association's patron-in-chief Nazeer Khan said that the chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should initiate action against those involved in harassing furniture makers. Later, the protesters also handed over complaints to the deputy commissioner, requesting him to heed their issue.