PESHAWAR: Opposition parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday announced to support the traders’ strike on July 13. Leaders of Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Qaumi Watan Party at a meeting at Bacha Khan Markaz decided to support the traders’ strike. The meeting was attended by ANP provincial president Aimal Wali Khan, JUI-F provincial president Maulana Attaur Rehman, PPP’s Humayun Khan, PML-N’s Muhammad Afzal Khan and other leaders of the parties. The participants of the meeting termed the demands of the traders as genuine and announced to support the July 13 strike. The meeting also announced opposition to the deployment of soldiers inside the polling stations. It agreed that the deployment of soldiers even inside the sensitive polling stations would raise questions.
Meanwhile, PML-N provincial president Amir Muqam, through a statement, directed the party office-bearers at the district level to contact the traders’ bodies to ensure participation in the protest. “All the district presidents and general secretaries should make contacts with the traders unions and support their protest by arranging participation of maximum workers,” he said, adding, “The PML-N will fully support the traders shutter down strike as the incapable and incompetent government has made life miserable for the people by increasing the prices of daily use commodities.” He said flour, ghee, oil, gas, electricity and other daily use commodities prices had increased beyond buying capacity of the people. “Factories are being closed down, rendering thousands of labourers jobless and the rulers are enjoying luxurious life at the cost of snatching the right of living from the masses,” he added. Amir Muqam said the government had announced to impose new taxes on a daily basis and the poor people were being deprived of the two-time meal. “In such a situation the PML-N can’t remain a silent spectator and will stand by the masses,” he added. He said the PML-N would not disappoint the public as well as the trading community in this hour of need and would stand side by side with them in the protest against the cruel rulers.
