07 February 2004	Saturday	15 Zilhaj 1424

LAHORE, Feb 6: Markets and bazaars in the provincial metropolis reopened after the Eidul Azha holidays on Friday as the business community rejected the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal call for a sbutterdown strike on Dr Abdul Qadeer issue.

The traders not only kept their shops open but also disappointed the MMA leadership by staying away from the meeting convened outside the Masjid-i-Shuhada to condemn President Gen Pervez Musharraf for 'humiliating' Dr A.Q. Khan. The meeting was attended by the MMA stalwarts only.

Police contingents were posted at all the markets and bazaars in the provincial metropolis to check any possible attempts by the MMA activists to force shops' closure. However, no such attempt was made anywhere and business activities continued uninterrupted.

The traders also turned a deaf ear to the strike call because they were fed up with the long spell of Eid holidays and wanted to resume business for earning their livelihood.

Talking to newsmen, Lahore Qaumi Tajir Ittehad president Khwaja Azhar Gulshan and secretary-general Mian Fayyaz Khalid said that the business community had shown exemplary unity and refused to respond to the MMA strike call, which was aimed at making political mileage out of Dr A.Q. Khan issue.

They said that the business community was not ready to go on a politically-motivated strike as its problems were being solved by the provincial and district governments. They said that all the markets and bazaars in the provincial metropolis had remained open and the call for strike was ignored completely.

District Nazim Mian Amer Mahmood also thanked the Qaumi Tajir Ittehad and the business community for rejecting the agitational politics of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal.

He maintained in a statement that there was no justification for the strike call after the acceptance of Dr Khan's apology by President Gen Pervez Musharraf and the federal cabinet, but the MMA had not withdrawn its call merely for politicizing the issue.

According to a press release, a protest rally was held on the Multan Road under the leadership of Hafiz Muhammad Idrees which was addressed among others by Abdul Ghaffar Aziz, Merajudin Khan, Zahoor Ahmed Wattoo and Amanullah Khan.

Meanwhile, acting MMA president Qazi Husain Ahmed expressed his satisfaction over the response to the strike call, saying the people would not tolerate anything against the nuclear technology or its creators.

In a press statement, he condemned government's alleged attempts to open shops forcibly. The Qazi said that in their efforts to please the US the rulers were jeopardizing the future of the country. He said his apprehensions that the strategy evolved to rescue the country would in fact plunge it deeper in the crisis stood vindicated as the US and Western media had made more demands.

The MMA leader said that heeding to reason the government should stop its adventurism against the nation and nuclear scientists. The Qazi urged the nation to be on guard and stop the government from taking wrong decisions.