PESHAWAR: The business community of Peshawar on Wednesday held a rally against the 0.3 per cent withholding tax on bank transactions of over Rs50,000 and threatened to continue the protest campaign unless the decision was withdrawn.
Holding banners and placards inscribed with their demand, the traders marched from different bazaars to Chowk Yaadgar and held a big rally there. The processions were led by the office-bearers of various associations of shopkeepers. Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Markazi Anjuman-i-Tajiran, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, president Haji Haleem Jan, senior vice-president Malik Mehr Elahi and others.
They announced that the business community would boycott bank transactions on Friday (Sept4) to record their protest with the federal government as they were not ready to deal with the banks in presence of the said tax.
They said that there would be shutter down strike on Sept 9 and all the bazaars would remain closed. In case the government failed to accept the demand, they would observe another shutter down strike on Oct 7.
“We will devise our future line of action after the Oct 7 shutter down strike and the entire responsibility would rest with the government in case of any problem created due to the strikes,” they said. — Bureau Report
Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2015
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