Civil faultlines: Disobedience campaign tantamount to treason says Hoti

Traders say asking them to not pay bills would just result in severed electricity connections at work.

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party provincial president and former chief minister Amir Haider Hoti termed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan’s civil disobedience movement “treason against the state and country”.

Speaking to party workers in Mardan on Monday, Hoti said Imran’s move will create anarchy. The nation has rejected his call, and businessmen and industrialists have clearly stated they will pay taxes, which are used to run the affairs of the country, added Hoti.

Hoti stated Imran’s announcement has created problems for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government as the chief minister and other ministers took an oath to safeguard the Constitution of Pakistan.

“If people will not pay taxes and utility bills then how can the affairs of the province be run and salaries of employees be paid?” asked Hoti. The resources of the province are limited; it already takes funds from the Centre to fulfil its requirements,” he said.

“The proposal of ANP Central President Asfandyar Wali Khan to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take a vote of confidence from the parliament does not mean confidence in the PM has been lost,” he said. “All opposition political parties support the PM in the current situation.”

Traders oppose Imran’s disobedience

Peshawar’s traders also opposed the civil disobedience campaign announced by Imran Khan.

Press and Publication Association president Zafar Khattak and Nanbai Association provincial president Haji Muhammad Iqbal said if they stopped paying utility bills, the government will cut their connections and traders would be compelled to close their shops.

“The situation in the province is already poor for business,” said a trader. They claimed they demand the PTI leadership focus on problems of traders instead of announcing civil disobedience campaigns.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th,2014.