KARACHI, June 17: Leading vocalists have thrown their weight behind the Rainbow Video Merchant Welfare Association which criticized the government for initiating a campaign against piracy at the behest of the United States.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday at the Rainbow Centre, Fakhir said the government dealt a fatal blow to the country’s nascent pop music industry by sealing the factories where CDs were manufactured. “No one is disputing that piracy is bad. But why seal the factories where CDs are manufactured? If the government has reason to believe that these factories distribute pirated CDs, it can depute its inspectors there and keep a check on them,” he suggested.

Ali Azmat said a dearth of CDs badly hit the local pop industry. He said he personally knew at least six artistes whose albums were ready, but they could not launch them for want of CDs. He urged the government to allow CD manufacturers to operate their factories without let or hindrance.

Tanvir Afridi said the government should have created awareness about piracy before taking action against factories allegedly manufacturing pirated CDs. Making it clear that he did not support piracy, he said the government must realize that thousands of people associated with this industry had been rendered jobless.

The president of the Rainbow Video Merchant Welfare Association, M. Saleem Memon, said video and CD shop-owners would be most happy to purchase Indian movies through legitimate means. “But there is no official mechanism for the purchase and distribution of Indian movies in Pakistan. The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry has sent a letter to the president, requesting him to resolve the issue at the earliest,” he said.

Mohammad Irfan of the Karachi Small Dealers Association wondered why an anti-piracy campaign had been initiated only in Sindh. He added that if the government did not resolve the issue within a week, all shopkeepers would go on protest. He reminded the government that it used to collect a lot of sales tax from video and CD shopkeepers without the slightest compunction.