Small traders, Cottage Industries condemn anti-encroachment operation across Karachi

KARACHI: The All Pakistan Organization of Small Traders and Cottage Industries has strongly condemned what it called an “unjust and destructive” anti-encroachment operation being carried out across Karachi, terming it an act of “looting” and economic “victimization” under the guise of enforcement.

In a joint statement, the organization’s central general secretary Mehboob Azam, Karachi division president Mahmood Hamid, vice president Javed Haji Abdullah, Syed Naveed Ahmed, and general secretary Usman Sharif said the administration’s actions — including the demolition of market structures, seizure of goods, and harassment of traders — were intolerable and must stop immediately.

They said that traders in areas such as Liaquatabad, Saddar, Quaidabad, and Federal B Area were being unfairly targeted, even though they were already struggling to survive amid a failing economy. “The national economy is deteriorating, businesses are slowing down, and people’s purchasing power has collapsed. Instead of supporting small businesses, the authorities are bent on destroying them,” the statement read.

The leaders said traders did not support illegal encroachments but demanded accountability of the officials who had allowed and profited from them. “These encroachments grew under the very noses of corrupt officials. Instead of taking action against them, the administration is demolishing legal shop extensions and seizing traders’ goods worth millions,” they added.

The traders’ representatives announced that a consultative meeting of market leaders would be held on Monday, November 10, 2025, to decide the next course of action against what they described as “trader-hostile” operations.

They lamented that despite contributing 70 percent of the country’s total tax revenue, Karachi’s traders were deprived of electricity, roads, and other basic civic facilities. “Markets face four to six hours of daily load-shedding, the city’s infrastructure is in ruins, and roads damaged during rains remain un-repaired. Karachi now looks like the ruins of Mohenjo Daro,” they remarked.

“Even in these difficult conditions, traders are struggling to feed their families, but the administration seems intent on pushing them into hunger,” the statement said, warning that traders would no longer tolerate such injustices and would soon launch a protest movement.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025