Business community in a meeting at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry strongly condemned the dastardly terrorist attack on Bacha Khan University (BKU), Charsadda and called upon the government to ensure full implementation of National Action Plan to cope with the menace of terrorism effectively. They stressed for evolving a foolproof strategy to secure all educational institutions across the country in order to curb the repetition of any such tragic incident in future. They also expressed solidarity with the families of those martyred and injured the deadly assault on BKU. 

 

Atif Ikram Sheikh President, Sheikh Pervez Ahmed Senior Vice President and Sheikh Abdul Waheed Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that such cowardly acts could not shake the resolve of the government and the armed forces to purge the country of terrorists and affirmed that the whole business community of the country stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the government, armed forces and the security agencies in their fight against terrorism. 

 

They said the nation was in war against terrorism and stressed that government must ensure availability of adequate security arrangements around all schools, colleges and universities to minimise the possibility of such attacks as the terrorists were targeting the future builders of the nation. They said it was the responsibility of all stakeholders to devise a mechanism to secure the nation’s future and prevent terrorists from executing their nefarious designs. They said such acts of terrorism took a heavy toll on business and investment activities in the country, therefore, a comprehensive solution of this issue was the need of the hour to put the economy the path of sustainable growth.

 

At this occasion, business community passed a resolution to strongly condemn the attack on BKU and expressed deep sorrow over the deaths in the attack. It expressed heartfelt condolences for the bereaved families and reiterated unwavering support to the operation against terrorists. It called for full implementation of National Action Plan and demanded of the federal as well as provincial governments to utilize all available resources at their disposal for elimination of terrorism from the country.  

 

The resolution urged all political parties and segments of society to stand with the armed forces of Pakistan in their efforts to take the ongoing operation against terrorists to its logical conclusion in order to rid the country of this menace once for all. It reiterated that the business community of the country stood firmly with the people of Charsadda in their hour of grief and urged for bringing the perpetrators of such acts to justice as soon as possible.