Sindh Chief Minister (CM), Qaim Ali Shah must have felt embarrassed when the city’s protesting traders and industrialists turned down a request from his side to visit the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in a bid to pacify the enraged business community. The Sindh government was shaken by a rare strike called by the KCCI which was intended to wage a phase-wise protest against the provincial government for its failure to materialise its past pledges on improving the law and order situation in the volatile city. According to a KCCI spokesman, the chamber, backed by industrial town associations, small traders and market associations unanimously decided to agitate in four different phases.
The spokesman said that in the first phase, banners inscribed with the government-awakening slogans would be displayed across the city.
In the second phase, the KCCI would file a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) calling for the implementation of the orders of the apex court in its suo moto action regarding the law and order situation in Karachi, he said, adding that the third phase would see the KCCI members and other stakeholders stage a peaceful sit-in simultaneously at the Governor and CM Houses on November 3. He said that in the fourth phase businesses and industries along with markets would observe a complete closure on the 10th of next month. This plan must have brought the provincial government on its knees with the Sindh CM wishing to visit the KCCI. However, the request for a visit was given a cold shoulder by the KCCI management which felt that the requested meeting would bear no fruit like the past several meetings.
According to KCCI President, Haroon Agar, the CM wanted to come to the chamber to inform about the measures being taken by his side to provide security to the business community.
“But Siraj Teli said that since we had a lot of meetings in the past with no results for the betterment of the law and order situation and the decisions of protests have taken place at the platform of Karachi chamber with all the stakeholders of the city’s business and industrial community present and enough time has been provided to the government to act on the ground,” he said. Teli was quoted as saying that the CM agreed to order the law enforcement agencies (LEA) to show visible results regarding the betterment of law and order situation, especially in the old city areas and all the industrial zones within three days after which the KCCI would call a meeting of the stakeholders again, where the CM could address them to discuss the matter to decide about the protests with the stakeholders, he said.
Teli informed the CM that businessmen and industrialists had no other option as the LEA and the state was not providing security to the citizens and all the decisions taken in the past meetings with regard to law and order with the government and the LEAs had never been implemented and the crimes had increased many folds.
Agar said our chairman of businessmen group, Siraj Kassam Teli was contacted by the CM on the issue of law and order situation in the city after which the protests were announced.
Teli informed the CM of the crimes taking place on daily basis and gave few examples such as incident of Kharadar killings of two innocent traders and their visit to the spot and meeting with the area police. The second incident that he narrated was the shooting of a guard of a marble trader on refusing to pay “Bhatta” by phone in consultation with the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) chief. The CM said it was only three days back when he had called a meeting of the LEAs and had issued strict orders to control the crimes. He warned them that if in any area killings took place the station house officer (SHO), deputy superintendant of Police (DSP) and superintendant of police (SP) of that jurisdiction would be held responsible and serious action would be taken against them.
