Minister asks traders to end hunger strike

KARACHI: The representatives of concerned traders of Karachi who had been on hunger strike for three days to protest lockdown restrictions announced on Saturday night their decision to end the hunger strike.

The announcement to this effect was made after talks were held between the traders and Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah at their protest camp near Light House.

The local government minister said that all the coronavirus-related restrictions imposed by the provincial government were in full accordance with directives issued by the National Command and Operation Centre.

He said it was wrong to assume that the concerned traders and businessmen of Karachi and Hyderabad were being singled out when it came to imposing the lockdown in the two cities of Sindh.

He added that the lockdown restrictions were also being toughened in different cities of Punjab that had lately witnessed a surge in Covid-19 cases.

He said the coronavirus positivity ratio had been at an alarming level of 23 per cent in Sindh when the incumbent set of lockdown restrictions were imposed but later on, the same ratio decreased to a mere seven per cent.

Shah said the Sindh government was fully aware of the problems of the traders in the province as a scheme of interest-free loans had been launched for the businessmen fraternity on the directives of Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

He said talks were also under way to extend relief to businessmen paying the provincial taxes.

He assured the protesting traders that all their demands would be presented for consideration at a meeting to be held tomorrow (Monday) with the Sindh chief minister in chair.

He assured the traders that all their justified demands would be accepted by the Sindh government.

Shah said he would personally participate in the protest sit-in of the concerned traders if their demands were not accepted till Monday. He appealed to the concerned businessmen to end their protest, saying that they would surely get good news on coming Monday.

Accepting the appeal of the local government minister, leaders of the action committee of the concerned traders, Rizwan Irfan and Sharjeel Goplani, announced an immediate end to their hunger strike and protest sit-in.