LAHORE, Jan 14: On Jan 12, the then federal culture secretary allegedly violated legal formalities in Lahore by forcibly occupying two shops and halls of the Alhamra Cultural Complex. He also snubbed Lahore Arts Council (LAC) Executive Director Asghar Gilani who tried to resist the illegal act, Dawn has learnt.

Jalil Abbas, culture secretary till Friday and now youth affairs secretary, came to attend a meeting with LAC authorities over the federal government’s demand to get possession of shops and halls of Alhamra Cultural Complex at the Qadhafi Stadium.

“The property belongs to the provincial government and cannot be taken over by any federal department or official without a proper permission or fulfilling legal formalities,” Mr Gilani said when contacted on telephone.

He said an emergency meeting of the LAC’s BoGs was convened for Jan 16 to discuss the matter.

Mr Gilani and other officials told Dawn the Federal Culture Ministry had asked for the possession of the Qadhafi Stadium’s Alhamra Cultural Complex to accommodate the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA).

The LAC put the matter before its BoGs which rejected the demand at a meeting in Lahore on June 14, 2006.

On Friday, the secretary came to the Alhamra Art Centre on The Mall to attend the meeting on the issue on behalf of the PNCA. LAC BoG chairman and former Punjab chief secretary Javed Qureshi was also invited to attend the meeting, but he did not.

Punjab Information and Culture Secretary Taimur Azmat Osman came late but by then the federal secretary had allegedly insulted the executive director in front of members of the BoG and the PNCA officials who accompanied him.

Later, Mr Abbas reached the stadium, ordered unlocking the two shops at the complex and had those locked afresh by the PNCA staff, said Mr Gilani.

He said the secretary also took possession of the two halls of the complex but said they were yet to be locked. Mr Jalil declared that the PNCA would use the halls as and when required, according to Mr Gilani.

“This is illegal as no one can use the halls without the prior permission of the LAC authorities and no one is even authorised to enter the premises without permission,” Mr Gilani said.

He said the LAC and its facilities were under the administrative command of the provincial culture department. Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi is the patron-in-chief of the LAC.