The business community here announced complete shutter down on July 13 against the imposition of new taxes, increase in price of daily use commodities and documentation for retailers. "We took the decision on a call of Markazi Tanzeem Tajiran Pakistan (MTTP), a federation of various traders association of the country, to protest against the 'harsh' budgetary measures including increase in taxes and documentation of business activities," Malik Meher Ilahi, provincial president of the Markazi Tanzeem Tajiran Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told reporters here in Peshawar.
Ilahi said that the shutter down strike would be observed across the country, saying that Karachi Traders Action Committee (KATC) had already presented its charter of demands and also opposed the requirement to obtain CNICs of the buyers. He said the traders did not want to come to the streets but the government was not ready to hold negotiations with them and thus the shutter down strike was announced in a state of compulsion.
Malik said that traders couldnot accept the government's decision to collect additional tax from non filer buyers, besides showing CNIC numbers of purchasers. He said that the July 13 shutter down strike would be initial step wherein the business community would hold rallies, protest demonstrations to reject the budgetary measures for business activities.
The shutter down strike, he said would be followed by a series of protest rallies, camps and demonstrations as they were not ready to accept the government economic policy about traders. Other traders' representatives including Ihtesham Haleem, Haji Shakeel Ahmed Khan, Rehman Gul also shared details about a traders' conference held in Lahore and said that business community across the country had taken a unified decision to observe the shutter down strike. They said that representatives of traders belonging to other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also attended the Lahore conference and vowed to make the strike a success.