Traders back JI shutdown call for Sept 2

PESHAWAR: The traders organisations of the provincial metropolis have announced to join the Jamaat-e-Islami-called shutdown and countrywide protests against the high increase in electricity tariff and unaffordable power bills.

The announcement was made at a press conference arranged at the historic Chowk Yadgar here on Monday. The press conference was jointly addressed by JI district chief Bahrullah Khan, president of Sarafa Bazar Association Sher Farzand and other leaders of trader bodies.

Bahrullah Khan said that provision of the free units to all government entities, including Wapda officials, judges, generals and others should be stopped as their bills were being realized from the poor people.

He stressed that announcements should be made from all the mosques in the province to ask people not to deposit their electric bills.

The JI leader said the Wapda officials should not be allowed to cut the power supply to anyone over non-payment of bills. Bahrullah Khan said the previous governments were responsible for the unbearable increase in the prices of electricity.

He said that the people were fed up with the excessive hike in the prices of daily commodities and were no longer in a position to pay for the electricity and other utilities.

Bahrullah Khan said that JI would stage countrywide protests and a shutdown on September 2 on the call of central chief of the party Sirajul Haq.

Sher Farzand said that the trader organisations would fully participate in the JI protests and the shutdown. He said that the traders were facing severe insecurity.

They were paying every kind of tax but the government was not giving them any facility in return. He said the government was unable to take any step for our security let alone other facilities, he said.