KARACHI: President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) M. Shariq Vohra strongly condemned the Pakistan Railway’s action against Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited. Pakistan Railways sealed land owned by the Gul Ahmed Textile Mills (Ltd.), which the KCCI President’s statement claims was legally acquired and the action was taken without a court order or legal justification.
In a statement issued, President KCCI appealed Prime Minister Imran Khan and Governor Sindh Imran Ismail to take notice of the wrongdoing by Pakistan Railways which would terribly affect the operations of Gul Ahmed and put thousands of workers’ jobs at stake.
He pointed out that the legally acquired yard of Gul Ahmed Textile was situated on Pakistan Railways’ land where the textile mill kept all its cotton stocks in bulk quantities but it was sealed probably due to the ongoing anti-encroachment drive. However, it was a legally acquired premise whose lease documents have been vetted by the honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan and the High Court of Sindh. “When the management of Gul Ahmed assured to abide by whatever the honourable court decides in this matter, it was unfair to refrain them from taking away cotton stocks from the yard”, he added.
He said that Gul Ahmed was the biggest exporter of textile products and this move refraining the textile mill from accessing its cotton stock would affect its production activities and their exportable consignments may also suffer delays. “Prompt intervention by PM and Governor in this matter would ensure smooth operations of the factory and save thousands of jobs.”
“The Karachi Chamber fully supports Gul Ahmed’s legitimate demand to allow access to its raw material so that its workers remain at work, export operations continue without any disruption and the shareholders remain confident about the mill’s performance”, he said, adding that even the Government of Pakistan was also a shareholder of Gul Ahmed Textile Mills through NIT and NIC.
