Complete countrywide shutter-down observed

ISLAMABAD/ PESHAWAR/ LAHORE/KARACHI: Despite differences among different trade organisations on the schedule of the shutter-down strike against the imposition of 0.3% Withholding Tax (WHT) on banking transactions, traders countrywide observed a complete shutter-down on Saturday to record their protest with the government.
The government was accused of dividing the traders on observing a complete shutter-down, as some groups did not heed the call and continued to ply their businesses.
Some incidents of fighting were witnessed in different cities particularly in Faisalabad where trader groups scuffled with each other.
A complete shutter-down strike was observed in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Chakwal, Hassanabdal, Balkasar, Sargodha, Kasur, Gujrat, Burewala, Chiniot, Sialkot, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Abbottabad, Haripur, Swabi, Hangu, Karak, Charsadda, Mardan, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Hyderabad, Larkana, Nawab Shah, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Jacobabad, Badin, Matli, Tando Allahyar and several other cities.
The other groups have decided to observe a shutter-down on August 5 (Wednesday).
The All Pakistan Power Looms Chairman Waheed Ramay said all traders were united.
“If the government did not agree to withdraw the WHT, then we will observe a complete shutter-down on August 5,” he warned.
Former Chief Commissioner (Tax) Shafqat Mehmood said the government wanted to revive its economy through taxes.
The PML-N-supported traders led by Shahid Ghafoor Paracha from Rawalpindi, announced a strike on August 1 (Saturday), while the other group, supported by the PPP, fixed August 5 for the protest.
Traders belonging to the Traders Action Committee led by Nasir Mir and the People’s Traders Cell led by Tariq Waheed Butt decided to open shops on Saturday.
They said the Punjab government had used the PML-N traders to create differences among the community to sabotage the campaign for their rights.
“We will observe a shutter-down strike on August 5 on the call of the Markazi Anjuman Tajiran. The PML-N-supported traders want to divide the traders on the genuine demand to withdraw the imposition of Withholding Tax,” Nasir Mir said. He said the PML-N traders were assigned the duty by the government to sabotage the strike.
He said all trader leaders belonging to the PML-N wanted to get party tickets for the local government elections.
“We will observe a strike on August 5 as per the plan and in this regard all the traders will have to close their shops,” he said.
However, the other group led by Shahid Ghafoor Paracha and the Cantonment Traders Association President Zafar Qadri observed the strike on Saturday.
He said both the calls were generated from Lahore as the traders were divided into two groups on the strike.
“Our stance is to press the government immediately but the other group wants to give time to the government and has fixed August 5 for the strike,” he said.
He said unity among traders was necessary to press the government to withdraw the imposition of tax on banking transactions.
Anjuman-e-Tajiran Peshawar President Haji Afzal said they had observed a complete strike against the imposition of Withholding Tax.
“All the people are upset due to the government’s wrong polices,” he said. “If the government did not accept our demands we will continue our strike,” he warned.
In Lahore, traders succeeded in keeping most of important markets closed; however, markets in some localities operated normally.
Almost all the wholesale markets and business centres in localities like Liberty and Anarkali, The Mall and Hall Road remained closed.
The strike, however, did not disturb routine life in the city, with the markets in residential localities operating as usual.
There was almost no strike in Barkat Market (Garden Town), Garhi Shahu, Dharampura and Sanda.
Bakeries, eateries and medical stores operated normally in the areas where the majority of the population resides.
The Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) opposed the strike, while the stance of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry was unclear.
The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association also disassociated from the strike call.
The PML-N Traders Wing remained a silent spectator though some of its leaders gave muted support to the strike. Another traders group has given a strike call in Lahore for August 5.
But in Multan the shutter down was complete, as over 400 small and big markets remained closed. The protesting traders demanded the government to remove Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and the FBR chairman for misguiding the government on tax-related issues.
In Peshawar, traders observed a complete shutter-down, as major business centres and markets remained closed on Saturday. The traders went for the shutter-down on the call of All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran (APAT) that announced a strike across the country against the levy of WHT.
All major businesses in the Cantonment and Charsadda Road areas, including motor bargain centres, furniture houses and cloth and garments outlets, remained closed all day long while some restaurants and other small businesses started their daily routine late in the day.
However, food shops, bakers and other shopkeepers selling items of daily use remained open as the traders had allowed them to run their routine businesses so that the common people face no trouble in getting essential items.
President of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter of the APAT Sharafat Ali Mubarak termed the shutter-down a referendum of traders against the government’s decision to levy 0.3 percent WHT on banking transactions.
“I personally monitored the strike in various parts of the province through independent observers and traders. All major divisional centres and cities such as Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Abbottabad, Haripur, Swabi, Hangu, Karak, Charsadda and Mardan observed complete shutter-down,” he added.
Sharafat, who is also president of Markazi Tanzeem Tajiran and Vice-President of the APAT at the national level, said: “The imposition of WHT on traders is a draconian decision through which the government wanted to tax those who were already taxed.