LAHORE: The Punjab Marriage Halls Association and the Punjab Caterers Association have rejected the government’s latest order to close marriage halls from November 20 to January 31 and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
An emergency press conference was held by the officials of the association at Lahore Press Club on Tuesday in which the patron of the association, Mian Ilyas, President Khalid Idrees Bhatti, General Secretary Rao Tariq and other officials participated.
Addressing the press conference, the president of the association questioned why the government did not see the threat of the spread of Covid-19 in the rallies and why only wedding halls are being targeted.
“The wedding halls were first closed during the lockdown and reopened last on September 15. […] Was there no danger in the recent government demonstration in Hafizabad where the Prime Minister also addressed?” he said.
The officials of the association called on the prime minister, chief justice of Pakistan and the chief of army staff to protect their business.
“We demand legitimate employment for our children and to save them from starvation. We have already been allowed to perform a small number of functions under the SOPs and no SOPs have been violated in any marriage hall in Punjab.”
The association warned that press conferences would be held in all districts of Punjab and that the orders would be rejected.
“If the government does not accept our demands, we, including our employees, will be on the roads and block them. In any case, we will not allow the wedding halls to be closed from November 20 and we will do our best for that.”
The association also expressed distrust in the qualifications of Federal Minister Asad Umar and demanded his removal.
It is pertinent to mention here that the government had issued orders to close wedding halls from November 20, which has worried not only the owners of wedding halls but also those who had booked wedding halls for the wedding celebrations.
