This refers to the clarification made by the senior PRO of the KPT wide caption "Customs agents walkout" a clarification, published in your esteemed daily on December 8, 2004. I, Farukh Saleem Shaikh, President, and Mohammad Arif Siddiqui, General Secretary of Karachi Customs Agents Group (KCAG) were stunned to go through the contents of the clarification which are based on distorted and fabricated facts.
An endeavour has been made to throw the blame on our valued members, for being unprofessional, which we vehemently deny.
It is unfortunate that in our national life truths are denied by presenting quite the contrary story. We had gone over there not to demonstrate unprofessional behaviour, but to resolve the problems faced by the clearing agents, in the smooth discharge of their professional assignments of trade and industry.
The new body of the Karachi Customs Agents (KCAG), was elected on September 2004, under the president-ship of Farukh Saleem Shaikh and Mohammad Arif Siddiqui as General Secretary. Since then we were asking KPT officials to spare sometime to discuss and resolve the problems being faced by customs agents during the course of their routine business activities.
We wanted to discuss all the 19 points threadbare with the respectable Traffic manager, so that a way out could be traced with mutual consent, but the very autocratic attitude and use of unprofessional language by him made us sad which was never expected.
The clearing agents have respectable trade body, their efficient service not only is a source of the growth of the economy of our country; but also, plays a vital role as a bridge between government and trade and industries in terms of generating revenue to the state and performing trading activities in smooth manners.
They obviously deserve respect, but when an officer of such dignity and position becomes so harsh, it had become imperative to stage a walkout as a symbol of our protest which was a collective decision and not on the instigation of any individual as claimed, and by all norms in the modern democratic society, no one could be permitted to put any one's prestige at stake and honour in jeopardy.
(The writer is general secretary, Karachi Customs Agents Group)
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