ISLAMABAD: The President has through an Ordinance further amended the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 [making] the offence of closure of establishments, without prior permission of the labour court, except in the event of fire, catastrophe, stoppage of power supply, epidemics or civil commotion, punishable as an unfair labour practice. Similarly, the offences of illegal lockouts, illegal strikes and go-slows, which were already punishable, have been made triable as unfair labour practices. The … Ordinance promulgated today [Oct 13] is aimed at streamlining the industrial relations system and making the present law more effective in dealing with unfair labour practices from any side in the industrial field.

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Quetta,] the decade-old question of Islamiyat syllabi for Shia and Sunni students in the country’s educational institutions has been happily settled, the Federal Education Minister, Mr Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, announced here this evening [Oct 13]. Addressing a Press conference … Mr. Pirzada read out a statement of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, hailing the settlement of the delicate question between the Shia and Sunni Ulema.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2024