Marriage halls allowed to reopen from September: Mian Aslam Iqbal

KARACHI: Punjab government on Monday announced to reopen marriage halls in the province from the first week of the September amid country-wide protest from the halls association over continuous closure of businesses during coronavirus pandemic, ARY NEWS reported.

According to details, the Marriage Halls Association on Monday threatened to march towards the Chief Minister House in Karachi if they were not allowed to resume their businesses under devised coronavirus SOPs.

Addressing protestors outside the Karachi Press Club, Head of the Marriage Halls Association Rana Raees said that wedding halls remained shut till today due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The government has allowed other businesses to reopen under devised SOPs, however they remain reluctant to allow marriage halls to operate,” he said.

He said that they had given a demo to the government to reopen marriage halls while following the SOPs.

“We have gone bankrupt due to the ongoing financial crisis amid the pandemic,” he said and demanded of the government to allow the halls to operate under the SOPs.

He further warned that in case of a continuing ban, they could extend the scope of their protest and could march towards the chief minister’s house for the approval of their demands.

Moreover, the Punjab government has announced that the marriage halls will be allowed to operate in the province from the first week of September.

This was announced by the provincial Minister for Commerce Mian Aslam Iqbal, who reached out to the protesting owners of the wedding halls outside the Punjab Assembly.

“You will be allowed to arrange wedding functions from the first week of September,” he assured and said that he would meet their representatives for outsourcing functions after two days.

The protestors, however, refused to accept his proposal and demanded to immediately allow them to resume their activities.