M. Yakub Karim, chairman Pakistan Soap Manufacturers Association, has urged President Pervez Musharraf to direct the Sindh government to withdraw the declaration of a superfluous holiday in the larger interest of the country.
"The Father of the Nation advised us for Work, Work and Work" for the survival and prosperity of Pakistan," he said, adding, "we can not create a respectable status among nations of the world until we are economically strong and industrially viable."
M. Yakub Karim, while commenting on the announcement of holiday by the Sindh chief minister on the first one-day cricket match between Pakistan and India, said, "we have wasted a lot of working hours in the recent past and now another holiday on such an unimportant occasion is uncalled for."
He said: "It will bring yet another jerk to our industrial production and economic activity."
M. Yakub Karim further said, "our country is passing through a very critical period. The number of people below poverty line is increasing day by day.
Our population is deprived of health services, potable water, ordinary education and other essentials of daily life."