2 April, 2005	Saturday	22 Safar 1426

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PESHAWAR, April 1: Trader and business community of Peshawar is divided over the question of observing strike on Saturday on the call of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal as fears ran high among business circles due to damage caused to showrooms and restaurants in Peshawar by miscreants on Thursday during the Pakistan Oppressed Nations’ Movement’s strike. “The NWFP Tajir Ittehad would not formally take part in the strike, but if some of the shopkeepers decide, on their own, to keep their shops shut, they are allowed to adopt the course,” said Haji Ghufran, chairman of the NWFP Tajir Ittehad.

He said that the traders community had not made any commitment to MMA leaders who had sought traders’ cooperation for the April 2 strike. However, business circles said that the administration’s ‘failure’ in controlling Ponam’s activists from damaging showrooms and restaurants on Thursday had frightened the business community of the provincial capital.

“Businessmen are worried about the safety of their shops, therefore, most of them are likely not to open their shops on Saturday, fearing violence from the MMA activists,” said a representative of the NWFP Tajir Ittehad.

MMA leaders held a meeting with traders’ leaders in Peshawar a few days ago and tried to persuade them to extend their support to the strike call. Traders’ representatives, when contacted, said that they would not take part in the strike specially after the government failure to ensure security to the business community during the strike called by Ponam on Thursday.

They criticised the government for not ensuring security to private property on Thursday when activists of Ponam attacked restaurants and showrooms to force their owners to take part in the strike of the nationalist parties. “Making the strike a success is not the responsibility of traders, rather, those who have called the strike should think as to how they can put an impressive show,” said Sharafat Ali Mubarak, General Secretary of the NWFP Tajir Ittehad.

The administration, he added, had assured traders of Peshawar, in a meeting on Wednesday, that they would be provided security if they chose to stay away from the strikes called by Ponam and the MMA.

“The government’s failure to fulfil its commitment made with the traders on Thursday has caused unrest among us and some of us might not open our businesses, because of fear of violence on April 2,” said Mr Mubarak.

The damage caused to restaurants and showrooms on Thursday, traders’ leaders said, reflected the administration’s weakness which did not take immediate action against the miscreants.

“It is the responsibility of the government to provide security to the business community, otherwise, we would be left with no option but to chalk out our course of action to protect our assets,” said Mr Mubarak.

Meanwhile, a visiting delegation of some 100 monks from South Korea, who are on a visit to the NWFP in connection with celebrations of the Gandhara Civilization’s week, has cancelled its scheduled visit to Charsadda on Saturday because of the MMA’s strike programme.

Arshad Khan, a member of the provincial assembly from Charsadda, was to host a lunch in honour of the visiting delegation. However, the same has been cancelled under fears of ‘unforeseen’ events of the MMA’s strike.

Meanwhile, provincial ministers appear to be divided over the question of the provincial government’s involvement in the strike. While NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, who belongs to the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazal), has issued directives to the administration to ensure peace and protection to private property during the strike, his cabinet’s minister for food, excise and revenue Fazal-i-Rabbani, who belongs to Jamaat-i-Islami, told Dawn, that they [ministers] were bound by the MMA’s decisions.

“We would take part in the strike as we are bound by the MMA leaders’ decisions,” said the minister.