Shutter-down strike observed across province

Business activities in Quetta, Mastung, Kalat, Chagai, Naushki, Gwadar and other cities suspended

QUETTA: Balochistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran on Tuesday observed a complete shutter-down strike in the province, including the provincial capital Quetta, against the increasing taxes imposed by the Federal government.

Following the call of traders’ unions in Pakistan, business activities in the province remained at a standstill while traffic was minimal on the provincial capital’s streets. The two day shutter-down strike call was supported by the province’s trading community.

Shops and markets on Quetta’s Jinnah Road, Liaquat Bazar, Abdul Sattar Road, Prince Road, Sariyab Road, Double Road and other areas remained closed causing problems for the people seeking to buy commodities of daily use.

The businessmen community has alleged that the federal government is harassing traders through the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) by imposing unnecessary taxes on the community. They termed the move unjust and harmful for the country’s economy.

“The government is inflicting hardships on the traders by imposing extra taxes which would surely ruin the economy and make lives of the people more miserable,” President Anjuman -e-Tajiran Sarana Bazar Syed Haji Zahir Agha said while vowing to take harsher steps against the federal government.

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Business activities in Quetta, Mastung, Kalat, Chagai, Naushki, Gwadar, Turbat, Pishin, Kuchlak, Zhob, Loralai and other cities were suspended.

All Pakistan Markazi Anjuman Tajiran (APMAT) has given a strike call across the country against taxation policies of the incumbent government. The Traders’ Association Balochistan on Monday also announced to observe a complete shutter-down strike in the province for two days against what they called governments’ anti-traders policies and harassment of the businessmen community.

The Anjuman-e-Tajiran Balochistan announced a boycott of all business activities across the province on Tuesday and Wednesday to record protest against the government.

“In the name of increasing tax-net, the Federal government and the  Federal Board of Revenue have been suppressing the business community. In the wake of these policies we have decided to suspend all business activities in Balochistan by observing two day shutter-down strike,” Secretary General Anjuman-e-Tajiran Allo Dad Tareen said while urging the government to review its economic measures.

He further claimed that the traders have been playing a vital in the growth of the country’s economy but instead of providing them a productive business environment, the incumbent government is creating problems.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2019.