Harassment: HCCI president resigns after allegedly being detained by the Rangers
The law enforcers claim that he was not detained but had arrived on his own accord.
"He was kept in detention for two hours," claimed vice president Khanzada PHOTO: FILE
HYDERABAD:
Tempers ran high at a meeting of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) on Sunday against the alleged harassment of HCCI president Seth Goharullah by the Rangers.
The representatives of dozens of traders' associations from different markets, businesses and areas of Hyderabad decried the act of the Rangers officials and urged the HCCI president to withdraw his resignation.
According to the HCCI vice-president, Nawab Khanzada, the Rangers went to Goharullah's Fateh Mills on May 28 and asked him to accompany them for a meeting with the Rangers commander Brig Shahid Saeed. The HCCI president then drove to the Qasim Rangers office in his own car along with two other office-bearers, escorted by a Rangers' mobile.
"He was kept in detention for two hours," claimed Khanzada. "The Rangers commander asked him to clarify an HCCI press release on May 25, which blamed the Rangers for not providing security to foreign diplomats during their visits to the chamber."
The press release stated: "Goharullah and other office-bearers of the HCCI regret the refusal of the Qasim Rangers commanding officer to provide security to foreign diplomats visiting HCCI. We wrote a letter to the commander in this regard but in his written reply, he advised us to approach the police for security." The press release urged the Rangers director-general to take notice.
However, an official of the Rangers, while talking to The Express Tribune, denied the harassment allegations. "Goharullah came here in his own Mercedes and it is not true that he was detained."
The Rangers officials were apparently dismayed by the way the HCCI went to the media with the complaint against the Rangers and wanted a clarification of the issue. They were also unhappy with the bias of the media, who did not take their version of the issue. The HCCI, meanwhile, also alleged that Goharullah was pressed to issue a press release that he went to the Qasim Rangers headquarters to meet the commander.
"If the HCCI president is not safe from harassment at the hands of the security agencies, how can an ordinary trader feel safe?" questioned Printing Press Association president Muhammad Rafique Shaikh. The Resham Bazaar Association leader, Altaf Qureshi, said Goharullah's arrest was humiliating for the trading community.
The traders also urged Gorarullah, who resigned from the office of president immediately after the May 28 incident, to withdraw his resignation. The meeting passed a resolution urging Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif and DG Rangers to take notice and conduct an inquiry of the incident.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 2nd, 2014.
Tempers ran high at a meeting of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) on Sunday against the alleged harassment of HCCI president Seth Goharullah by the Rangers.
The representatives of dozens of traders' associations from different markets, businesses and areas of Hyderabad decried the act of the Rangers officials and urged the HCCI president to withdraw his resignation.
According to the HCCI vice-president, Nawab Khanzada, the Rangers went to Goharullah's Fateh Mills on May 28 and asked him to accompany them for a meeting with the Rangers commander Brig Shahid Saeed. The HCCI president then drove to the Qasim Rangers office in his own car along with two other office-bearers, escorted by a Rangers' mobile.
"He was kept in detention for two hours," claimed Khanzada. "The Rangers commander asked him to clarify an HCCI press release on May 25, which blamed the Rangers for not providing security to foreign diplomats during their visits to the chamber."
The press release stated: "Goharullah and other office-bearers of the HCCI regret the refusal of the Qasim Rangers commanding officer to provide security to foreign diplomats visiting HCCI. We wrote a letter to the commander in this regard but in his written reply, he advised us to approach the police for security." The press release urged the Rangers director-general to take notice.
However, an official of the Rangers, while talking to The Express Tribune, denied the harassment allegations. "Goharullah came here in his own Mercedes and it is not true that he was detained."
The Rangers officials were apparently dismayed by the way the HCCI went to the media with the complaint against the Rangers and wanted a clarification of the issue. They were also unhappy with the bias of the media, who did not take their version of the issue. The HCCI, meanwhile, also alleged that Goharullah was pressed to issue a press release that he went to the Qasim Rangers headquarters to meet the commander.
"If the HCCI president is not safe from harassment at the hands of the security agencies, how can an ordinary trader feel safe?" questioned Printing Press Association president Muhammad Rafique Shaikh. The Resham Bazaar Association leader, Altaf Qureshi, said Goharullah's arrest was humiliating for the trading community.
The traders also urged Gorarullah, who resigned from the office of president immediately after the May 28 incident, to withdraw his resignation. The meeting passed a resolution urging Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif and DG Rangers to take notice and conduct an inquiry of the incident.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 2nd, 2014.