Traders announce country-wide shutdown on Oct 28

End daylong sit-in at Serena Chowk after talks with FBR fail

RAWALPINDI: The traders from the twin cities showed road power by taking out rallies under Tajir Bachao March on Wednesday.

The rallies under Markazi Anjuman Tajiran Pakistan (MATP) headed towards the office of the Federal Board of Revenue in Islamabad through Faizabad for staging a sit-in.

The protesters were stopped by the police at Sareena Chowk while they removed barbed wires and blockades, chanting anti-government slogans.

The situation grew tense when the protesters attempted to enter Red Zone while the move was resisted by the police which pushed them back.

As a reaction, the traders staged a sit-in at Serena Chwok. Later, FBR officials held talks with the protesters at a private hotel in which the traders presented a nine-point agenda before the officials which was rejected.

MATP has announced observe a country-wide shutter down strike on October 28 and 29 and called off the sit-in.

The traders on the call of Markazi Anjuman Tajiran Pakistan (MATP) protested against government policies and imposition of taxes.

Traders’ partial strike costs economy up to Rs25b

The traders of all markets in Rawalpindi including Raja Bazaar, Fawwara Chowk, Bara Market, Murree Road Bazaar, Commercial Market, Tench Bazaar, Cantt Bazaar took out protest rallies converged at Sahmsabad Stop. The protesters chanted slogans against the government economic policies and alleged harassment of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

Addressing the protesters, Shahid Ghaffor Paracha of Markazi Anjuman Tajiran said they tried their best to make government realise problems of small traders and to review tax policy but the government gave us lollypop.

“We have now come to a position that we are thinking of closing down our businesses,” he added.

Paracha said that they would stage sit-in outside FBR’s office until the fulfillment of demands. “If the government remained obstinate against our recommendations, we would go on a country-wide shutter down strike,” he added.

Further, the Small Chamber Industries President Sajid Hassan Butt said that traders had various meetings with FBR chairman in which the government admitted that the reservations of traders on tax policies were genuine.

He claimed that the chairman assured them of resolving their reservations but nothing had been done even after a year.

“The traders paid tax on earnings of Rs1.2 million now they are paying tax on earnings of Rs0.4 million,” Butt said and added that the traders wanted to pay taxes but they would never accept illicit and rouge economic and tax policies.

Moreover, while addressing a meeting of traders unions in Islamabad, Markazi Tanzeem Tajiran President Muhammad Kashif Chaudhry said deadline for FBR to reverse its decision would end after 72-hours. He added that government and FBR should refrain from forcibly imposing anti-economic policies on traders.

K-P govt assures Miranshah traders of issues’ resolution

He expressed that they would announce dates for shutter down strikes across the country if traders’ charter of demand was not approved.

Chaudhry said that all traders association across the country had approved to abolish condition of National Identity Card (NIC) and added, “We want to ask the government if they are running the country or International Monetary Fund (IMF).”

The official said that if the government had power, it should remove IMF’s economic team and bring scheme of fix tax on annual income for traders.

The turnover tax should be reduced to 0.25 per cent from 1.5 percent while the black law of converting traders into withholding agents should be changed immediately while law pertaining registration and record of traders’ sales tax should be abolished too. A strong contingent of police 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2019.