Political parties support April 11 strike call

Customs Act

BATKHELA: The political parties on Friday announced to support the April 11 shutdown strike announced by the trader community against the extension of Customs Act to Malakand division.

The decision to this effect was taken during a multi-party conference convened by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) at the residence of Member Provincial Assembly Muhammad Ali Shah.

Leaders of all the political parties of Malakand division including Advisor to Chief Minister Shakeel Khan Advocate, Syed Bakhtiar Mani of Jamaat-e-Islami, its district chief Maulana Jamaluddin, ANP district general secretary Ijaz Khan, Sahibzada Khalid Jan of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Muhammad Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Naik Muhammad of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, president traders union Malakand division Shakirullah and others attended the meeting.

The participants said that Malakand division was exempted from taxes in the 1973 Constitution due to backwardness of the area.

They alleged that the provincial and federal government had issued the notification of imposition of the Customs Act 1969 without taking its people and other stakeholders into confidence.

Addressing the meeting, Advisor to Chief Minister Shakeel Khan said the members national and provincial assemblies of Malakand division had decided to quit assemblies to protest the imposition of Customs Act there.

He was representing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the meeting. Shakeel Khan said the elected representatives were not in favour of invoking the Customs Act in Malakand. He said the provincial government has no role in the imposition of the act.

He said the Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had also explained the position of the provincial government on the matter.Shakeel Khan said the chief minister had said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government didn’t ask for or seek the imposition of Customs Act in the Provincially Administered Tribal  Areas (Pata) and Malakand division.