KARACHI: Suleman Chawla, Acting President FPCCI, has offered heartfelt condolence to the families of the people who died in stampede at a Zakat ration distribution activity at a cloth dyeing factory in the jurisdictions of SITE industrial area.

Sulemn Chawla, nonetheless, strongly denounced the illogically premature, disheartening and threatening arrests and harassment of the factory owners and management staff of the factory that took a noble, humane and socially-responsible initiative in the holy month of Ramazan.

The people who help the needy on a mass scale with sustenance food should be our role models and must be encouraged instead of being punished for their philanthropy.

The FPCCI acting chief also questioned the indecision and inaction of the government in tackling stagflation &unemployment in the country; and, its own numbers are showing 46.65 percent inflation in the sensitive price index (SPI). What the government has done to manage and regulate the supply side disruptions, he added.

Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo, ex-president FPCCI said that a meticulous inquiry should have been conducted before taking any punitive or disciplinary action; and, the entire business, industry & trade community of Pakistan is taken aback with such harsh legal proceedings, i.e. arrests and remands.

Engr M A Jabbar, VP FPCCI, stressed that there is no such law or regulation that mandates the compulsory intimation to police or DC office before distribution of ration, Zakat or sadaqat.

He questioned the federal government over a number of deaths and injuries during their own distribution of wheat flour and added that these are very tough economic conditions and people are desperate.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023