JI Nowshera to stage anti-govt protest on 27th

NOWSHERA: The Jamaat-e-Islami local chapter has announced to stage a protest on Monday against price-hike, unemployment, lawlessness, administrative and financial mismanagement and alleged illegal checking points set up by police and Customs.

This was stated by the JI Nowshera chapter president Rifatullah Khan at a press conference. He was accompanied by vice-president Inayatur-Rehman, Dost Muhammad Khan, Samiu Rehman Yousafi and Nadir Shah. The JI leaders said they would stage a protest and sit-in to highlight the problems faced by the masses. They said there were over 6,000 shops in Nowshera, which were allegedly dealing in non-duty paid cloth but the Customs officials instead of moving against them were teasing those at so-called checkpoints on roads who buy cloth to meet own needs.

The JI leaders said such acts by the Customs staff were leading to hatred for the government functionaries, which was a highly deplorable practice. They believed all the government departments had been hit by financial anomalies and corruption, adding the government and the country had been taken hostage by the mafias, including sugar and flour mafias. Meanwhile, JI KP chapter chief, Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan alleged that the Customs staff was hand in glove with smugglers.

Talking to the media, he alleged that the Customs staff was facilitating the smugglers, which on the one hand, was causing a huge loss to the local fabric industry and the money thus earned was being misused, on the other.

The senator said he would play his role in amending the Customs Act and bringing reforms to improve the situation. Mushtaq Ahmad said had the Customs staff been performing duties honestly, the Federal Board of Revenue had not been facing huge revenue losses every year and our rulers had not been begging for assistance from the International Monetary Fund, etc. The JI senator alleged that a huge quantity of foreign cloth was smuggled into Pakistan from Afghanistan. This, he added, made it various parts of the country, including Nowshera. Mushtaq Ahmad Khan was critical of the Customs officials and alleged that they were troubling people unnecessarily. “The shops and godowns are full of foreign cloth but as soon as someone buys fabric for meeting own needs, these Customs staff members seize the cloth and arrest the people,” he lamented.

When contacted for their version, the Customs officials justified the recent action of seizing the foreign cloth and impounding the vehicle, which was carrying it. Customs Collector Khalil Ibrahim Yousfani and Assistant Collector Ali Atif said 2700 yards foreign cloth was seized from the vehicle as it duty had not been paid on it. The officials said Inspector Ayaz Khan and Superintendent Mazhar Ali had supervised the action. They said those carrying the cloth took the plea that they were taking it for onward distribution to helpless women and children. “They should have paid duty on foreign cloth even if it was meant for charity purpose,” said the collector. He confirmed that the cloth had been seized and the vehicle impounded. The official said the cloth would be returned if the owner paid duty on it.