Police block roads, shop owners pull down shutters

PESHAWAR: Police shut-off access to bazaars in cantonment and city areas for motorists on Saturday. The shopkeepers responded by pulling their shutters down.

The step, police officials said, will help them prevent any possible terrorist attacks as Eidul Azha approaches. But what they did not count on was a complete lull in business activities in the main markets of Peshawar.

Another side-effect of the police barriers was the diversion of traffic. Cars poured into the Sunehri Masjid Road, Sir Syed Road, Sheh Shah Suri Road and Shauba Bazaar, and clogged them.

While traders and residents alike criticised the police for creating “unnecessary hurdles in the name of security,” police said the decision was made in a meeting with traders on Friday.

Shaukatullah Hamdard, a trader leader told The Express Tribune that the authorities did not fulfil the agreement they had made in the meeting. He said that the officials had promised a free shuttle service from Qayyum Stadium – where parking space has had been created – to Saddar Bazaar. The strike, he said, had forced the authorities to reconsider their stance and announce that the barricades will be removed on the first day of Eid.

Deedar Hussain, who owns a shop on Arbab Road – one of the areas cordoned off by police for vehicles – was irritated by loss of business. “Every time they (the authorities) deal with security threats by cordoning the area off, common people suffer,” he said, adding that the police should come up with an alternative plan to prevent mishaps.

“Closing roads and erecting barricades is no solution to the problem, rather it leaves us in a tight corner as buyers do not come to markets,” he added.

Qadratullah Khattak goes to Saddar regularly for his shopping. But today he had to turn back home. He was unwilling to leave his car behind and go the rest of the way on foot. “I do not feel safe leaving my car behind. What if someone steals it?”

He added, “I appreciate their intentions, but the government is not going about this security situation the right way.”

Families, Khattak said, would find it particularly hard to come for shopping.

Nazir Ahmad got up early on Saturday morning only to find security barriers blocking the way to wherever he went. The roads leading to interior Peshawar, he said, were blocked with concrete barricades and barbed wire. “It’s like a warzone. I feel like someone is laying siege to us,” he said

He added, “Though it was a correct decision from security point of view, but it is a source of trouble for those coming to visit the city from outside.”

The police, meanwhile, is not willing to take any chances.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Peshawar Ijaz Ahmed said they had taken elaborate security measures for Eid. He said that police had set up barricades and checkpoints inside the city as well as the entry points, especially those open to the traffic from Bara, Jamrud and Darra.

Ahmed added, “We have called in almost all of our reserved personnel.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2010.