Pindi traders defy lockdown orders

Traders of Rawalpindi defied government orders to shut down just before Eidul Azha, expressing that they could not close on the cusp of a festive occasion.

The provincial government had last week imposed a 10-day lockdown in the province ahead of Eidul Azha as part of efforts to curb the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) from spreading. The lockdown would see all major markets stay closed ahead of the religious festival.

On Tuesday, traders defied orders and kept their shutters open to conduct business. Subsequently, the police and the district administration tried to close the shops but they were met with stiff resistance.

Representatives of traders and the business community, present in the main commercial areas, provided moral support to shopkeepers who refused to keep their shutters down on the orders of the Punjab government.

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While talking to The Express Tribune on Tuesday, some traders said that shopping activity increases as Eid approaches. However, the government has ordered to shut down the markets. How will we pay our utility bills and salaries to our staff if we are not allowed to open and conduct business, shopkeepers said.

They asserted that they were strictly implementing the prescribed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to stop the coronavirus from spreading, adding that they were ready to follow even the stricter policies but must continue their business. However, they categorically refused to close the markets before the religious occasion.

A representative body of the traders of the garrison city, Markazi Anjuman Tajiran President Shahid Ghafoor Paracha, said that businesses have already suffered a lot due to the four-month-long lockdown and smart lockdown. Now, there will be business only, not a lockdown, he asserted.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2020.