PESHAWAR: The business community will observe a two-day shutter down strike on Oct 29 and 30 against the imposition of taxes, and warned to expand the protest if the condition of presenting a CNIC copy for buying and selling goods up to Rs50,000 is not withdrawn.

“All the five groups of traders across the country irrespective of their local issues have joined hands to observe a successful strike at the national level as the government is not ready to accept our genuine demands,” Markazi Tanzeem-i-Tajiran provincial president Haji Sharafat Ali Mubarak said while talking to this correspondent on Sunday.

He said the business community could not afford to pay any additional tax as inflation and devaluation of currency had already hit them hard.

Business community in Malakand division withdraws strike call after talks with MPA

Similarly, Malik Meher Ilahi, president of his own faction of Markazi Tanzeem-i-Tajiran, also vowed to make the shutter down strike a success. “We will observe the strike on a call given by All Pakistan Anjuman-i-Tajran, saying all rounds of talks between the traders and the government failed,” he said.

Mr Ilahi said a deadlock persisted on issues ranging from mandatory sales tax registration to the condition of presenting a CNIC copy for buying and selling goods.

Peshawar chamber of small traders and small industries president Mohammad Atif Haleem said the industrialists, wholesale traders and retailers were on the same page to make the Oct 29-30 strike a success.

Anjuma-i-Tajiran Peshawar president Haji Mohammad Afzal said traders had forgotten their internal differences and decided to take a unified stand against the government.

In Mansehra, president of traders’ body Shoaib Khan told a news conference that the business community would observe complete shutter down strike on the call of central traders’ body in Islamabad against the government’s ‘anti-business’ policies.

“Each shop and business centre across the district will remain shut,” he said.

However, the traders’ federation in Malakand division on Sunday withdrew the decision of observing shutter down strike after successful talks with representatives of the provincial government.

The decision was announced by president Swat traders’ federation Abdur Rahim Khan along with MPA Fazal Hakim Khan, while talking to mediapersons.

“After the MPA has assured us that Malakand division will remain exempted from all taxes till 2013 and that there will be no tax on traders, we revoked our decision of shutter down strike on 29 and 30,” said Abdur Rahim.

DDAC chairman Fazal Hakim said Chief Minister Mahmood Khan had assured him of resolving all issues of traders in Malakand division.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2019