MANSEHRA: A section of the district bar’s premises was demolished here on Thursday for serving and selling liquor.

The action was taken in the presence of bar association president Mohammad Naseem and other cabinet members.

“After my election in March, I restricted the sale and serving of liquor at the bar club and smashed over 150 bottles, and have now taken further action by the demolition of the area where liquor was kept, served and sold,” Mr Naseem told reporters.

Accompanied by a group of lawyers, he said serving liquor, a practice started in 1939 during the British era, was against Islamic principles, so it would no longer be tolerated.

Association leader says practice from British era against Islamic principles

The association president said police didn’t act on the matter due to the bar’s sanctity and therefore, he and his team took the matter into their own hands.

He said a committee headed by former bar council member Shahjehan Khan Swati amended the bar’s constitution to devolve powers of the club’s secretary, who would be nominated by the president instead of being elected like other office-bearers.

Mr Naseem said the bar club would operate from sunrise to sunset under his and other cabinet members’ watch.

Meanwhile, the district administration on Thursday asked groups of traders to settle a row over the election of their body in Mansehra.

“We want you to amicably settle your issues, especially about election, instead of resorting to confrontation,” district police officer Shafiullah Khan Gandapur told a joint meeting of both trader groups.

Deputy commissioner Adnan Khan Battani had called both groups, one led by Haroonur Rasheed and the other by Mohammad Shakeel Awan, for a meeting on the orders of Speaker of the provincial assembly Babar Saleem Swati.

Leaders of the two groups met Mr Swati in Peshawar earlier this week and sought his intervention for the resolution of the election issue.

“You should bury the hatchet for peace in the area,” Mr Gandapur said.

Self-proclaimed president of a trader group, Haroonur Rasheed, said traders wanted their elections to be held in a friendly environment.

“The business community wants effective resolution of its issues and that can happen only after peaceful elections of its leaders,” he said.

Mr Rasheed said parallel trader bodies couldn’t address the community’s issues.

President of the other group Mohammad Shakeel Awan said his panel was registered with the labour department.

“I’ll consult with other group members on the matter and respond next week,” he said.

The deputy commoner called both groups again to office on July 13.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2024