Meaty blow: Men with knives out on the streets
The strike of butchers, especially those selling beef, continued on the third day. They are protesting against the hefty fines imposed by the district administration for not selling meat on the prescribed rates.
The representatives of the protesting butchers said they would continue their protest for an indefinite period if the Rawalpindi administration did not bring the rates of mutton and beef to the prices fixed in Islamabad.
On the other hand, the efforts to bring an end to the strike bore no fruit on Saturday after both sides stuck to their points.
“We have expanded our strike over to Gujar Khan, Mandra and Taxila and the butchers of Attock and Chakwal will follow suit if the government does not take us seriously,” said Muhammad Iqbal Qureshi President Jamiatul Quresh.
The butchers are on the strike for the last three days after District Coordination Officer Rawalpindi fixed the price for beef and mutton at Rs200 per kg and Rs370 per kg respectively. The butchers claimed that the prices for beef and mutton are Rs300 and Rs520 respectively in the federal capital.
“The magistrates of the city government have been imposing fines of as much as Rs25,000 on the butchers for selling meat on higher prices,” Iqbal Qureshi said. “The butchers do not earn that much; we cannot pay the fines and carry out our business as well,” he added.
Another representative of butchers informed The Express Tribune that Shahid Gafoor Paracha President Markazi Anuman-e-Tajran arranged their meeting with the DCO.
In the absence of DCO, they met with Talat Mehmood Gondal, assistant commissioner and Administrator Potohar Town, but could not find any solution to the issue.
He said the official stuck to his point that the administration would not spare any butcher selling the meat on higher rates than the prescribed ones.
Discussions with different butchers in the city revealed that they were protesting against the new rates, as the same commodity was being sold at higher rates in Islamabad.
On the other hand, the administration of the city maintained that crackdown against the butchers for selling water-injected meat and that on higher rates would continue.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 24th, 2011.
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