Power protest: Traders’ strike gets mixed response

Wholesale markets close, retail markets stay open.

LAHORE: The city’s traders observed a partial strike in support of the Punjab government’s protest against load shedding on Saturday, with most wholesale markets closing for the day but most retail markets remaining open.

Shah Alam Market, Azam Cloth Market, Urdu Bazaar, Panorama and Rang Mahal were closed for business on Saturday, while Liberty Market and Fortress Stadium, and many shops at The Mall, Hall Road and Shahdara, remained open.

The traders who observed the strike said that electricity shortages had crippled their businesses and they had shut their shops to register their protest at the situation. Those who remained open for the day said that the strike was politically-motivated and served no purpose other than making their businesses suffer even more.

A minor scuffle was reported at one of the markets on The Mall when Naeem Mir, who heads the market’s traders union and opposed the strike, tried to force some shops that were supporting the strike to open. He failed.

Qaumi Tajir Ittehad President Sheikh Irfan Iqbal called for supporting the strike but kept his shop open for business.

Ashraf Bhatti, a trade leader who opposed the strike, said that shutting down shops was an extreme measure that should be reserved for extreme circumstances. “What is the use of going on strike when it is not going to make any difference to the electricity situation?” he asked.

He said that the strike was politically-motivated. He said that many businesses had been forced to lay off their workers and couldn’t afford holidays. He said that markets in Shahdra, on Hall Road and The Mall, and Anarkali Bazaar had opened on Saturday.

He said that according to the figures of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the electricity crisis would be solved if the government paid independent power producers the Rs165 billion it owed them.

Khalid Pervez, a trade leader who supported the strike, said that its purpose was to make a stand against the “unfair” policies of the federal government. He said its purpose was not political, but to unite traders. “It is better to close businesses for a day than to be forced to close forever,” he said.

He said the strike had been successful as most main markets remained shut.