Shopkeepers back strike call

ISLAMABAD: The leaders of traders were doing rounds of commercial markets in the twin cities mustering support for July 13 strike call against what they called was unjustified taxation introduces in the so-called IMF-dictated budget.

They said that grocers, green grocers, butchers and poultry vendors besides cloth merchants have assured of support for the shutter-down strike called by All Pakistan Anjuman Tajran (APAT), a national level representative body of traders.

APAT Islamabad President Kashif Chaudhry warned the district administrations to stop harassing the traders otherwise things would get out everyone’s control.

He added that whole-sellers and retailers should be given immunity from sales tax registration while he suggested that audit of tax-filer should be done only once in three years.

All Pakistan Markazi Anjuman-e-Tijaran President Ajmal Baloch and Traders Action Committee Islamabad Secretary Information Khalid Chaudhry visited various markets of Islamabad and asked traders to observed shutter down on July 13 against tax measures of the government taken in budget 2019-20.

They also called a meeting of local traders at Haven Height Hotel, Sitara Market, Islamabad on Thursday 3pm on this issue. Later on, they would visit ICCI to hold a meeting with its office pearers.

Baloch said that shutter down strike would not be against the government, rather it would be against the IMF-dictated anti-trader tax measures in budget. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2019.