• Twin cities’ traders refuse to become part of ‘political gimmicks’
• Attock’s major business centres shut down to protest inflation

ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: A shutter-down strike announced by Jamaat-i-Islami garnered a lacklustre response on Saturday as traders in both cities opposed such boycotts on a political basis, and instead favoured a united front led by traders’ bodies.

Parts of Sector G-9, Bhara Kahu, and I-10 witnessed closed markets, but most of the areas remained open, which could be best described as a “partial” strike. A shopkeeper in Aabpara told Dawn that he did not favour political parties’ involvement in traders’ affairs as that would be politicisation of business. “We went on strike earlier this week to ramp up pressure on the government; we are raising the issue of inflation with the government, and hopefully, things will work out,” he added.

Another shopkeeper saw the JI strike call as a part of its ‘electioneering’. Political parties use such issues to gain traction and joining this bandwagon gives off a wrong impression, he added.

The JI, however, claimed to have held a successful strike and markets remained closed in the twin cities as well as in other parts of the country against inflated bills. JI trader body leader Kashif Chaudhry warned the government of sterner action if demands were not heeded.

In Rawalpindi, traders also ignored the shutter-down strike call. Residents remained busy with their routine life and everyday business activities were witnessed in the markets.

Though some markets were closed in the morning, they were subsequently opened in the footsteps of other markets and bazaars which opened despite the call for a shutter-down strike.

Public transporters also observed routine timings.

“We rejected the call of Jamaat-i-Islami and some traders’ organisations because we demanded to go on a countrywide strike on one day. However, the bodies at the national level are divided into three groups: one gave a call for August 31, the second for September 1, and the third faction mostly supported by the JI announced September 2 for the strike, but we rejected all of them,” said Anjuman Tajran Rawalpindi President Shahid Ghafoor Paracha while talking to Dawn.

He said that a demonstration was staged on August 29 on Rashid Minhas Road and “after this, we gave the time of a week to the government to withdraw the decision of heavy taxes on electricity bills”.

He said that the caretaker government also increased the prices of petroleum prices and there was a dire need for all the stakeholders, including traders and transporters, to sit together and chalk out a strategy to press the government to withdraw the recent surge in petroleum prices and electricity bills.

He alleged that some political parties and trader organisations were trying to destroy the unity of the business community on the issue and gave different call\s. He said that traders in Rawalpindi were ready to respond to a “united call” by the traders associations.

Rawalpindi Cantonment Traders Association General Secretary Zafar Qadri said that all the markets and bazaars in the cantonment areas remained open on Saturday. Mr Qadri said that a shutter-down call should be given across the country on the same day as traders cannot afford to close shops for such gimmicks every other day.

In Taxila and Wah Cantt, a partial strike was observed. In Attock city, however, shops and major markets remained closed while traffic in these parts also remained thin. Chemists and Druggists Association, Pakistan Medical Association, All Pakistan Clerk Association and the district bar association also participated in the strike in Attock. Lawyers in Hassanabdal and Taxila also joined the strike call which was given by the Punjab Bar Association. Markets were shut down in the main bazaar of Taxila while a partial strike was observed on Faisal Shaheed Road, Railways Road, HMC Road and Nawababad.

A complete shutter-down strike was observed in the business hub of Lalarukh, Wah. A protest rally was also taken out by civil society and staged a sit-in on G.T. Road.— Amjad Iqbal in Taxila also contributed to the story

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2023