Millions go unpaid while city mourns

Millions of people were unable to open shops or earn wages in the wake of the killing of MQM MPA Raza Haider.

KARACHI: Approximately two million daily wage earners were unable to work on Tuesday as businesses remained closed across Karachi, the commercial hub of Pakistan.

The All Karachi Tajir Ittehad, a group representing hundreds of shopkeepers and small business owners, has asserted that millions of people were unable to earn wages or open shops in the aftermath of the killing of Raza Haider, a provincial legislator  belonging to the MQM.

“The government must step in to ensure an end to the weeks of violence that has claimed dozens of lives before the start of Ramazan,” asserted Atiq Mir, chairman of the group.

“We appeal to the MQM and to the government to help markets resume business from Wednesday so that labourers and ordinary people can resume their lives,” pleaded Mir.

He estimated a loss in daily revenue between Rs2 billion and Rs2.5 billion due to the closure of markets as even small shops in residential neighbourhoods did not open for business.

“Only one milk shop was open in all of Delhi Colony, and that too had half its shutter down,” commented a resident of this middle income area.

Business owners pointed out that many companies paid salaries to their employees during the first week of every month. They explained that thousands of people would be unable to pick up their remunerations due to the law and order situation in the city, adding to the already tense situation.

The government exchequer is also expected to suffer a loss of billions of rupees in tax revenue.

Stakeholders have stressed that if the closure of businesses continues it will add to these losses, but highlighted that the real toll is suffered by ordinary people who are unable to access medical facilities, send their children to school or attend work themselves.

“There was only about 5 per cent attendance at banks, so they were effectively closed,” claimed former president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Anjum Nisar. He added that banks are already closed for two days every week and that is a cause of concern for businesses.

“If they remain inaccessible for three days in a week due to violence and disturbances, how will we ever get anything done?” he questioned. Lamenting the killing of Raza Haider, he termed the murder an attempt to sabotage the city’s peace and harmony among different ethnicities.

Industrialists and business owners have appealed to the government to take strict measures to ensure that such incidents do not spiral towards further violence and create instability in the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2010.