LAHORE: The business community at large, especially the small retailers and traders, have unanimously criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for giving a call for protests and rallies on Chand Raat (eve of Eid) and the long march on Islamabad by end of this month, saying it will cause heavy losses to the country’s already fragile economy.

The business community has also requested Mr Khan to withdraw the call and advise his party workers to stage the protests, if necessary, after the Eid holidays.

“Leaving aside our political affiliations, we must give priority to Pakistan. Moreover, our country cannot afford any further economic crisis. Therefore, I would request the PTI chief Imran Khan to withdraw his call for protests, especially during the Eid holidays, since it will adversely impact the businesses,” Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) president Nauman Kabir said in a video message on Monday.

“Please let the people spend Eid with their beloved ones without any issue,” he urged the ousted premier.

Mr Khan, in a recent video message, urged people, particularly his party workers, to prepare themselves for the long march by the end of this month. He also asked them to take to streets on Eid eve (Chand Raat) holding countrywide protests against ouster of his government under an alleged regime-change conspiracy hatched by the United States.

Talking to Dawn, Abdul Basit, the LCCI former president, said that the protest call by the PTI chairman would massively damage the businesses and economy of the country.

He advised all political parties, especially the PTI, to sign a joint ‘charter of economy’ so that the businesses were not affected by protests. “We should also plan to meet the PTI chairman Imran Khan and request him to revise his protest strategy to save the businesses and economy,” he added.

Commenting on the situation, the All Pakistan Anjuman-i-Tajiran secretary general Naeem Mir severely criticised Imran Khan for causing a massive damage to the country’s businesses through his “politics of protest amid hate and violence”.

“Giving a call for protest from Chand Raat onward will be damaging for the businesses. And now we all have reached a consensus that Imran Khan has become an enemy of the business community,” he deplored, requesting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to protect the business community from the “wrath of Imran Khan and his workers”.

Published in Dawn,May 3rd, 2022