KARACHI: A large number of business leaders have appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary, to make business community a party in the suo motu hearing on Karachi situation.
They are of the view that the business community suffered most at the hands of terrorists and extortionists who targeted them to make quick money.Over the last three years, a number of industrialists lost their lives while resisting these extortionists and criminal elements patronised by some political parties, they said.
They said that only a day before the Eid a textile tycoon was gunned down on I .I. Chundrigar Road for resisting thugs and ruffians riding on a motorcycle who snatched Rs0.8 million.
Moreover, a few months back, another young industrialist who had returned from abroad after completing higher education was shot dead outside his industrial unit for resisting armed extortionists.
It is the business community which receives 'parchi' and 'bhatta' threat calls from criminal elements who have been having field days for about three years, they added.
The need to include the business community acquires added importance because its representative bodies, such as Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and FPCCI are politically motivated and are reluctant to annoy their masters in the corridors of power, they said.
They appealed to the Chief Justice to hear only those businessmen and industrialists who are not affiliated with any political party.
Only an unbiased and true reflection of the ground situation could help Supreme Court resolve the complex issue of the city, they added.
These leaders lamented that owing to poor law and order situation, a number of industrial units had already relocated to Bangladesh and other countries in the region and if the situation was not immediately corrected, outflow of capital would accelerate in the coming months.
It is the business community that generates wealth and pays tax to the national exchequer and also provides millions of jobs, but their safety and security has no priority with the government.
These leaders drew the attention of chief justice to the tension created by political parties in the city by hoisting flags of their parties throughout the city.
When there is no election season, why should political parties keep their flags hoisted in their strongholds, thereby creating unnecessary tension and acrimony among citizens.
These leaders demanded that political parties should not be allowed to run welfare organisations because this gives them the cover to undertake other activities, including collection of alms which are mostly misused.
The business leaders who have appealed to the CJ for hearing them in the suo moto proceedings of the Supreme Court on Karachi situation are: Shabir Ahmed, chief pattern of Pakistan Bedwear Exporters Association, Syed Usman Ali, chairman, Towel Manufacturers Association, Jawed Bilwani, chairman, Pakistan Apparel Forum, Rafiq Godial, chairman, Pakistan Knitwear Sweater Exporters Association, Khwaja Usman, chairman, Pakistan Cotton Fashion Apparel Manufacturers Exporters Association, and Saleem Parkeh, chairman, Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association.