LAHORE: A large number of traders of Sheikhupura staged a sit-in outside the Punjab Assembly building on The Mall on Wednesday and blocked the thoroughfare for traffic in protest against demolition of their shops on Sargodha Road at the behest of a ruling party MNA.

Accompanied by their children and women, the traders said they had been doing business along Sargodha Road for about 40 years.

They alleged the district administration officials came to the market early in the morning and started demolishing their shops with the help of bulldozers and other heavy machinery.

“Since we are supporters of the PTI, the PML-N MNA has used his influence to teach us a lesson,” said a protester.

He said neither any notice was served on them nor there was any plan to widen the road.

“There has been no encroachment in the whole market. Every trader owns the place of his business. Half of the market shops have been demolished without any justification,” he said.

The sit-in and road blockade would be continued till stoppage of demolition and payment of compensation to the affected traders, he said.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2014