Karachi traders hold off on keeping shops open till 8pm

Sindh's Information Minister, Nasir Hussain Shah, speaks to the media in Karachi on June 5, 2021. - YouTube

Following talks with the Sindh government, the Karachi Tajir Action Committee said Saturday it had agreed to postpone its decision to keep stores open until 8 p.m. on Monday.

Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah told the media that the committee had been invited to the Commissioners' House for talks today.

"We have asked them to postpone their decision until Monday," said the minister, adding that by then the wider range of their demands would be met and problems resolved.

Until then, the shops will close at 6 p.m.

Shah said the committee had complained about the attitude of the police and administration.

"We suspended the Saudabad Station House Officer after receiving complaints," he said, adding that the government would also look into the other complaints.

Shah said that coordinating committees are being formed at the district level to create closer contact between the dealer organizations and the administration.

He said traders are taken with confidence before decisions are made that affect them. "We don't want economic murder of anyone," he said.

The minister said the Sindh government is reluctant to make such decisions. Curbs are attached to protect people, he said.

He added that all decisions are always based on recommendations from the National Command and Operation Center.

"The Prime Minister himself identified Karachi and Hyderabad as areas where cases are increasing," he said.

Shah regretted that some people made statements based on hatred and ethnic politics.

"When the markets in Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar closed, nobody said anything," he said, adding, "MQM and PTI are only politics."

Turning back to the dealers, he said the Sindh government was grateful that they reversed their decision. "A lot of people tell us not to negotiate and just enforce decisions by force," he said, indicating that the government is not in favor of such actions.

He said the government will hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the traders' problems and the demands they are making.

The minister also spoke of the government's plans to increase green spaces in the city and urged everyone to plant as many trees as possible in their neighborhood.

He complained that the center failed to provide the province's due portion of Rs 84 billion as part of the National Finance Commission's award.

"The economy hasn't improved, that's all a lie," he added.

When talking about the alliance of the Pakistani Democratic Movement of the opposition, he asked who did not want it to last.

"We did the PDM, we are not the ones who weakened it," he said, referring to the PPP.

Traders protest against "unilateral" government action

The day before, the Tajir Action Committee had announced that dealers would keep the shops open from June 5th (Saturday) until 8 p.m.

A communication from the committee said the government had not contacted dealers, did not accept a single demand from them and had only acted "unilaterally".

"If the police use force or try to seal markets, we will protest," the statement said.

Dealers make demands in media briefing

On Tuesday, the committee held a press conference to demand, among other things, that the Sindh government keep shops open until 8 p.m.

The committee chairmen asked to be allowed to close companies for one day instead of observing the current two shutdown days.

They also called on the government to withdraw the judge's powers to seal markets and to impose fines on companies.

The committee said the federal and Sindh governments should not make any decisions without consulting business people. They also said their demands should be accepted within 72 hours, otherwise they would announce a new plan of action.

Businessman Atiq Mir noted that only the MQM had asked them about the difficulties they were facing.

"The Sindh government and the NCOC are ignoring us, in Sindh the minister of education makes business-related decisions," Mir said. He warned that stores in Karachi will protest if they are not allowed to open after 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, businessman Sharjeel Goplani claimed that the county government took 1 million rupees from the cell phone market as a bribe and also stole valuable cell phones from them. He added that business people were demanding governor's rule in the province.

The committee also called for special incentives for business people to be given in the upcoming budget.

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