LAHORE, Oct 6: The Pakistan Chemists Retailers Association has suspended its strike till Oct 21 in view of a positive response by the government to its demands.

Association chairman Muhammad Ishaq, secretary-general Mian Ghulam Murtaza and other office-bearers said the strike was being suspended because the Punjab government had not only suspended the newly-enforced Drug Rules, but also removed Chief Drug Inspector Mufti Abdul Salam from his office during second round of negotiations with them.

The government had also replaced the previous controversial negotiating team with a new one, headed by Punjab Health Secretary Raees Abbas Zaidi.

They said the strike had been suspended as a gesture of goodwill to give government time to resolve the dispute about the controversial drug rules. They called upon the chemists to maintain unity in their ranks because their struggle for the acceptance of demands had achieved only initial success.