ISLAMABAD - Karachis banking community has been hit by a new form of terrorism. The General Secretary PPP Sindh, Saeed Ghani, has been leading a violent action against MCB, forcing its branches to close and its customers to stay away. All this violence is being done despite a Sindh High Court order issued on 13 October 2009, against Saeed Ghani and MCB Bank Staff Union Pakistan Registered (CBA) Shaheed Usman Ghani Group, in which the IG Police, Sindh and the Home Secretary Sindh have been directed to enforce the order, through a mandatory injunction. The SHC ordered Saeed Ghani and his CBA (Collective Bargaining Association) to restrain from putting the life and limbs of the management, staff and customers into jeopardy. They are further restrained from disrupting the business activity of the plaintiff (MCB) bank by indulging in hooliganism. Further the IG and Home Secretary were ordered to ensure that the mandate of the court is carried out/enforced. In addition, the court, while recognising the right of the private defendants to carry out lawful protest, also ordered that in the process they shall not block access to and egress from the passage to the plaintiffs (MCB) premises by staying 50 feet away from the main entrance of the plaintiffs premises, till 27.10.2009". This date is the next hearing of the case, but clearly Mr. Ghani, his supporters and the Sindh relevant authorities are in no mood to pay heed to any court order from the Sindh High Court. The present violence by the PPP office bearer is not new in that there have been earlier orders from various legal forums against him. The National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC) had restrained Mr. Ghani, who had been sacked by MCB in 1997, from posing as Patron of MCB Staff Union of Pakistan (through a judgement dated 13.10.2003 and reported as 2006 PLC 481) and also restrained him from claiming to be affiliated with the union in any capacity but that has to date not stopped him. With the new government in place, in July 2008 he again began to issue pamphlets and hold press conferences posing as head of the CBA. In off the record interviews with this correspondent, MCB employees categorically stated that no present employee was a member of the Ghani-led CBA. According to MCB officials, the Bank has a legally elected and recognized CBA with whom it recently negotiated a Charter of Demands. Mr. Ghani also used physical force in July 2008 to interrupt the Banks working by unlawfully locking out staff in various Karachi branches, defacing the Banks property and harassing the customers. As this harassment continued the Bank took legal action. But it seems if your party is in power, the authoritys will ignore all legalities including court orders - even if it means contempt of court. Members of the Karachi business community, too fearful to speak on the record, feel that the targeting of MCB is part of the campaign to target big business into succumbing to protection blackmail. Two additional points are worth noting. First, that Article 18 of the Constitution asserts the citizens right to trade. Second, at a time when Pakistan is desperately seeking investment, MCB is one of the leading banks of the country and has an international presence also. In 2008 it was declared as the Best Bank in Asia by Euro Money. Just as the textile sector is being pushed out of the country, is the government going to do the same to Pakistani private banks?