FAISALABAD: The Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association have threatened to go on strike if the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) continues harassing millers through issuance of notices under Section 40-B of the sales act.

The warning was issued at a meeting of the businessmen with Commissioner Naseem Nawaz, Regional Police Officer Ahsan Tufail and City Police Officer Afzaal Kausarat at the chamber on Tuesday.

Nadeem Allahwala, the chamber vice president, told Dawn the commissioner had been asked to intervene into the issue as local FBR officials had been raiding factories “without any justifications” and threatening the millers with arrests and registration of cases if they failed to pay tax.

The officials were visiting the units with handcuffs that was humiliating for the millers, he added.

He said millers wanted to pay tax, but the FBR officials were demanding colossal amounts in taxes without any formula.

Mr Allahwall said the chamber had been demanding the FBR should sit with millers and discuss tax collection instead of creating “harassment”.

Earlier, both entities had given a strike call against the FBR officials on May 13 last. However, they failed to convince millers and a majority of traders to shut down all markets of Clock Tower bazaars.

Similarly, scores of mills had also not responded to the strike call.

Chamber president Rizwan Ashraf said FBR officials’ tactics had been disrupting the conducive business environment in the city. He alleged that the authority under Section 40-B was being used to harass the millers.

Sources said at the meeting the participants said millers of Faisalabad were being targeted intentionally although recovery of utility bills and tax had been “excellent” in the district.

They warned millers would go on a strike again if the government did not stop the FBR officials from harassing them.

The commissioner responded to the queries of the participants and asked the chamber to prepare a working paper featuring all kinds of technical queries related to the FBR so that they could be taken up at “an appropriate forum”.

Chamber executive member Zia Alamdar asked the commissioner what action was being taken against the sugar mills not paying growers’ dues.

The commissioner said the issue would be taken up with the quarters concerned.

The participants also raised the issue of handlers of the target killers’ gang allegedly run by a former SHO, Farraukh Waheed. They also sought the number of people killed by the gang and why the ex-SHO was “out of police’s reach”.

The RPO said police were working on the gang and would leave no stone unturned to penalise the culprits. He said efforts were being made to protect the lives and properties of the masses.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2015

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