MUZAFFARABAD, April 24: A pen-down strike by gazetted and non-gazetted employees of the AJK audit department entered the eighth day on Monday with employees vowing to continue it till an officer whom they called an ‘arrogant boss’ was transferred.

In a related development, the employees of the accountant general’s office also went on a token strike on Monday to express solidarity with their former colleagues which caused enough inconvenience to the people visiting the AG office to get their salary, pension and other bills passed.

According to details, the strike began on April 17 against the attitude of a BPS-19 officer from the central services of Pakistan - who had been transferred and posted in Muzaffarabad in October last year as DG audit department.

“Ever since assuming the office she has been disparaging us, sometimes to the extent of using abusive terms,” one of the striking employees told this correspondent. He said the strike would not end till she was replaced by an officer who knew how to respect subordinates.

“It is the duty of our rulers to protect our honour and dignity. And if they fail, we are left with no choice but to go on strike,” another employee said.

The employees asserted that the officer’s behaviour was alienating them from Pakistan as well.

“When staffers hear such utterances from a Pakistani official and also notice that no action is taken against such a person by the powers that be despite being in the picture of everything, what else will you expect from them?” they asked.

It is learnt that two officials from the AJK council secretariat — Deputy Secretary Qaiser Majid Malick and Section Officer Ghulam Mohammad — visited Muzaffarabad on Friday to probe into the matter. The outcome of the inquiry was not known as yet.—Staff Correspondent