ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: As the sit-in of Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran has come to an end and the business activities have revived, the traders of the federal capital have sought a long-term plan to deal with protests and demonstrations in future so that routine life is not disturbed.

The four-day— Monday to Thursday — sit-in has brought the Blue Area, a business hub, to a standstill, causing billions of rupees losses to the traders.

Ajmal Baloch, chairman Traders Action Committee (TAC), Islamabad said that the government should allocate a place preferably at the D-Chowk so that the public could give vent to their anger.

He said the traders and businessmen of the capital had approached the Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik with the request to provide an alternative venue for the sit-in but to no avail. The TAC had even filed petition in the lower courts highlighting their losses in the event of the protest, but in vein.

The spokesman for the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Malik Sohail said that the impact of sit-in was not limited to Blue Area only as almost all banks and ATMs were closed affecting the business activities of entire Islamabad.

He called for a strategy in consultation with the stakeholders including the business community of the city to deal with such crisis in future.

However, the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) while welcoming the agreement between Dr Qadri and the government termed it good for political stability in the country.

Zafar Bakhtawari, President ICCI, called upon the government to chalk out a comprehensive plan to proactively deal with the situation in future. — A Reporter