After the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Karachi’s two major political parties — the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) — have also announced support for the ongoing campaigns of traders’ organisations to pressure the Sindh government into allowing them to reopen their businesses on May 9 (15th Ramazan).
After failing to persuade the Pakistan People Party’s (PPP) provincial government to permit them to reopen their businesses, various traders’ bodies been contacting the city’s major political parties.
On Monday, a delegation of traders led by Atiq Mir met the MQM-P to seek their support. On Tuesday, the JI’s city chief attended a traders’ protest in North Nazimabad, while PTI leaders met a delegation of traders led by All City Tajir Ittehad head Sharjeel Goplani.
Traders’ convention
The JI’s Karachi chapter has announced holding a protest at markets and shopping centres across the city on Wednesday (today), while a traders’ convention has been convened at Idara Noor-e-Haq, the party’s headquarters, on Thursday to devise a plan of action after consultation with traders’ leaders.
JI city chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman attended a protest at Five-Star Chowrangi that was organised by local traders to demand that the Sindh government allow traders to reopen their businesses.
The Meena Bazaar’s female shopkeepers also participated in the protest to demand that the government announce the reopening of businesses.
Rehman claimed that the provincial government is not giving importance to this issue that has massive economic and employment consequences. He warned that the traders are losing their patience, so the government should stop their “delaying tactics” because the situation will result in a disaster.
He said shopkeepers have already assured the government of following the standard operating procedure (SOPs), adding that mosques have also been allowed to remain open on the condition of complying with the SOPs.
The JI leader later told the media that the Sindh government has not fulfilled the promises it made during its past meetings with traders. He said traders and daily-wagers have become penniless, adding that they are ready to follow the SOPs.
He lamented that the government-traders deadlock on resuming economic activities persists and has been multiplying the financial miseries of the business community. The JI Karachi’s deputy secretaries Abdul Razzak Khan and Younus Barai, district central chief Monim Zafar and Karachi Information Secretary Zahid Askari were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the protesters, All Pakistan Small Traders Organisation President Mahmood Hamid and Hyderi Market President Akhtar Shahid said traders do not want any confrontation with the government. They said they were only demanding their right to do business under the SOPs. Traders of other associations were also present on the occasion.
‘Govt not listening’
The Goplani-led delegation told PTI leaders that Karachi’s traders have been badly affected due to the preventive lockdown against COVID-19, and that the provincial government has no sympathy for them.
MPA Khurrum Sher Zaman, the PTI’s city president, told a joint news conference after the meeting that his party has been demanding from the beginning that the Sindh government allow traders to gradually reopen their businesses.
“We are Karachi’s sons and represent the city because its residents voted for us in the general elections,” said Zaman. He said Karachi is running the entire Pakistan, but the provincial government has sadly not been listening to the city’s traders who are contributing to the country’s economy.
He said the business community and traders’ organisations have now started contacting political parties due to their problems. “Businessmen have presented their demands to us to convey it to Prime Minister Imran Khan.”
The MPA assured the traders that he will arrange a meeting between the PM and traders during the premier’s visit to Karachi this weekend. He said the PTI will continue to support the business community in these circumstances, adding that the entire poor class is connected with traders.
Criticising the Sindh government, the PTI Karachi chief said the provincial ministers have been only announcing and devising SOPs, but they keep failing to implement them.
He claimed that the provincial government’s lockdown is a political sham, and that their announcements and notifications are just for political point-scoring. “The business community is ready to follow the SOPs. If the Sindh government’s ministers and advisers fail, we are ready to help.”
Zaman announced that his party supports the demand of the business community to reopen markets on May 9. “The PTI is with the traders. If the Sindh government tries to register cases against businessmen, the first FIR will be lodged against PTI leaders.”
He assured all the associations of traders and shopkeepers that the PTI stands with them. “We have to save Karachi. The people of the city do not accept this political lockdown.”
He said the PPP has done nothing to serve the people. “The auditor general has been writing books on the PPP’s historical corruptions,” he added. He demanded that SOPs be announced for traders to reopen their businesses on May 9.
Goplani said they have closed their businesses and shops on the orders of the Sindh government to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. “Our families have been bound for a month and a half. This epidemic cannot be controlled.”
He said 15th Ramazan is the traders’ final deadline to reopen their businesses. “We are ready to follow the government’s SOPs,” he added. He lamented that shopkeepers have been picked up by the police. The traders’ delegation also included Shahid Hussain, Ahmed Shamsi, Dilshad Bukhari, Haseeb Akhlaq and Zubair Ali Khan.
PTI Karachi Senior Vice President Mahmood Maulvi, General Secretary Saeed Afridi, Information Secretary Jamal Siddiqui, Vice President Capt (retd) Rizwan, MPA Shehzad Qureshi, Zaman’s adviser Imran Siddiqui and Tauqeer Ahmed also attended the meeting.