Business, courts, campuses closed

All the business centers and markets of the city were closed within half an hour of the sad news of Punjab governor Salman Taseerís assassination on Tuesday, in order to avoid any untoward incident.

Afterwards, the Lahore district coordination officer also requested the business community to close their shops voluntarily.

Talking to The News, Waqar Ahmad, who was shopping with his family in Shah Alam market, said, ‘We were surprised to see shopkeepers close their shops. We thought some major incident had taken place. Soon, we learnt from shopkeepers the news of the murder of the governor.’

Mall Road Traders Association leader Raja Riaz said that their business was hit whenever any such incident took place in any part of the country.

‘Hearing about the killing of Salman Taseer, we abruptly asked the members of the trade body to close their shops without any delay’, he said, adding that, even in the past, shops on The Mall were hit by the protesters many times, causing them huge financial loss.

Irfan Iqbal Sheikh of Qaumi Tajir Itehad (QTI) said that they also had asked their members to close the businesses on the incident of the governorís death. Future line of action would be evolved in a meeting as the governor belongs to the business community of Lahore, he added.

Business centers in the posh localities ñ like the Liberty Market, Model Town Link Road, Cavalry Ground Market (residential area of the governor), M M Alam Road and Defense Markets ñ were also closed within one hour of the sad news.

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court, its benches and all subordinate courts in Punjab will remain closed on Wednesday after the assassination of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.

According to a notification issued by the LHC registrar, there would no court work in all courts of the province.

Meanwhile, public and private educational institutions across the province will remain closed on Wednesday while a number of examinations scheduled for today have been postponed.

The institutions will remain closed in line with the Punjab governmentís announcement of a holiday after the assassination of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer in Islamabad. According to Punjab University (PU) controller of examination Prof Dr Zahid Kareem Khan, papers of BCom Part-II and MSc Home Economics supplementary examinations scheduled for January 5, have been postponed. ‘The rest of papers will continue as per the announced schedule,’ he added.

He said new dates would be announced later. Meanwhile, a spokesman of Government College University (GCU) said all exams to be held on January 5 had been postponed and new dates would be announced later.

UET Lahore has also announced a holiday and postponed exams while the Lahore campus of NUML will also remained closed.

The King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Lahore, has postponed all examinations scheduled for January 5.

KEMU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Asad Aslam Khan, in a press statement on Tuesday, said that new dates would be announced later. However, he said examinations scheduled for January 6 would be held as per schedule.
All the business centers and markets of the city were closed within half an hour of the sad news of Punjab governor Salman Taseerís assassination on Tuesday, in order to avoid any untoward incident.

Afterwards, the Lahore district coordination officer also requested the business community to close their shops voluntarily.

Talking to The News, Waqar Ahmad, who was shopping with his family in Shah Alam market, said, ‘We were surprised to see shopkeepers close their shops. We thought some major incident had taken place. Soon, we learnt from shopkeepers the news of the murder of the governor.’

Mall Road Traders Association leader Raja Riaz said that their business was hit whenever any such incident took place in any part of the country.

‘Hearing about the killing of Salman Taseer, we abruptly asked the members of the trade body to close their shops without any delay’, he said, adding that, even in the past, shops on The Mall were hit by the protesters many times, causing them huge financial loss.

Irfan Iqbal Sheikh of Qaumi Tajir Itehad (QTI) said that they also had asked their members to close the businesses on the incident of the governorís death. Future line of action would be evolved in a meeting as the governor belongs to the business community of Lahore, he added.

Business centers in the posh localities ñ like the Liberty Market, Model Town Link Road, Cavalry Ground Market (residential area of the governor), M M Alam Road and Defense Markets ñ were also closed within one hour of the sad news.

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court, its benches and all subordinate courts in Punjab will remain closed on Wednesday after the assassination of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.

According to a notification issued by the LHC registrar, there would no court work in all courts of the province.

Meanwhile, public and private educational institutions across the province will remain closed on Wednesday while a number of examinations scheduled for today have been postponed.

The institutions will remain closed in line with the Punjab governmentís announcement of a holiday after the assassination of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer in Islamabad. According to Punjab University (PU) controller of examination Prof Dr Zahid Kareem Khan, papers of BCom Part-II and MSc Home Economics supplementary examinations scheduled for January 5, have been postponed. ‘The rest of papers will continue as per the announced schedule,’ he added.

He said new dates would be announced later. Meanwhile, a spokesman of Government College University (GCU) said all exams to be held on January 5 had been postponed and new dates would be announced later.

UET Lahore has also announced a holiday and postponed exams while the Lahore campus of NUML will also remained closed.

The King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Lahore, has postponed all examinations scheduled for January 5.

KEMU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Asad Aslam Khan, in a press statement on Tuesday, said that new dates would be announced later. However, he said examinations scheduled for January 6 would be held as per schedule.