'Traders shouldn't be dragged into conflict between Centre, Sindh'

President All City Traders Ittehad Hamad Poonawala has said that traders should not be dragged into the conflict between the federation and Sindh province.

The business community is not involved in any political agenda. There is no progress in opening business and commercial centres in Karachi, which is a matter of great concern. If the government does not want to make a decision, let them know openly so that we are free to make our own decisions again.

He expressed these views while addressing a meeting held at the Ittehad headquarters. Hamad Poonawala said that the problems of Karachi's business community have been sidelined in the ongoing political confrontation between the federal and Sindh governments over the past two days.

"We want to send a clear message to the federation and the Sindh government that traders should not be dragged into the conflict between the federation and Sindh province," he said.

The business community is not involved in any political agenda. Hamad Poonawala said that no progress has been made in opening business and commercial centres in Karachi, which is a matter of great concern.

The first 10 days of Ramazan are coming to an end and the Karachi businessmen are still sitting at homes only to the satisfaction of the government.

"If the government does not want to make a decision, let us know so that we can be free to make our own decisions," he said. "There has been an economic massacre of traders, so it is not possible now if one is hoping that these traders will be able to pay these salaries to millions of employees," he said.

Hammad Poonawala said that if the government does not want unemployment in Karachi and all over Sindh, it should take an immediate decision and provide immediate relief of Rs one lakh each to small shopkeepers and Rs3 lakh each to registered shopkeepers so that they can pay their employees and run their own homes.