ISLAMABAD: Employees of the Gun and Country Club continued to strike for a second consecutive day to protest rude and insulting behaviour by the club administrator, Daniyal Aziz, and the management of the club.

The Gun and Country Club, which has over 900 members, looked deserted on Wednesday due to the strike, and over 100 employees held a sit-in in front of the club`s main gate.

The employees demanded that President Mamnoon Hussain, the patron-in-chief of the club, remove Mr Aziz because, they said, he had failed to resolve longstanding issues facing employees and recently hit an employee who refused to give up his post when the club administrator told him to.

Mohammad Ramzan, the president of the employees union, said: `One of our colleagues was slapped by the club administrator, forcing us to protest against Daniyal Aziz and in support of our longstanding demands.

The protesters also chanted slogans against Mr Aziz, a vocal PML-N leader, and club secretary Ather Rauf Bhatti.

The alleged physical assault of aclub employee at the hands of the club administrator occurred a couple of days ago.

Yasir Javed, the finance and administration manager at the club, said Mr Aziz hit him when he refused to leave his post for a favoured employee who was given a job by Mr Aziz.

`When I was asked to leave charge so that the assistant manager admin could be given this slot, I told Mr Aziz that [giving him the charge] is the prerogative of the managing board, not the administrator, at which point the administrator first shouted at me and abused me and when I asked him not to abuse, he slapped me,` Mr Javed said. He added that Mr Aziz threatened to fire him.

He also filed an application seeking to register an FIR against Mr Aziz but said the police are not cooperating with him.

The protesters said they will strike until their demands are met including a 10pc increase in salaries. The general secretary of the employees association, Syed Farhat Abbas said: `[For the administrator to slap] the employee is a highly shameful act.

This incident shocked us, and wedecided to take to the streets for justice.

The club secretary, Mr Bhatti, denied all the allegations against him and against Mr Aziz. He said the incident of physical abuse was a `concocted story` and no such incident took place.

He alleged that Mr Javed has faced past action by the management for his involvement in human trafficking. Mr Javed denied the allegation, and said he was being victimised for challenging the administrator`s order.

Daniyal Aziz has also rejected all the allegations against him, saying: `I never slapped the employee in question, and never made any illegal appointment.` Mr Aziz also alleged that Mr Javed was involved in human trafficking.

He added: `As far as the employees` issues are concerned, of the 12 demands all of the employees` genuine demands have been met and there is no question of protest demonstrations.` He said a contractor whose illegal payments have been stopped by him is instigating the employees to protest against him through a senior lawyer. -A Reporter