The traders and industrialists of the violence-hit financial hub of Pakistan on Saturday said the ‘fear factor’, not ‘passionate appeals’ by political parties, forced them to shut their businesses whenever strike calls are given in the city.
According to FPCCI Vice President Shaheen Ilyas Sarwana, a one-day strike in Karachi costs the country at least Rs 7 billion on account of local trade and business and around Rs 12 to Rs 13 billion under the head of foreign trade, mainly imports.
Saturday was the third consecutive day when unannounced strike calls from the electioneering but terrorism-hit Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP) kept socio-economic activities in the city paralyzed.
Some traders like Asif Maruf of Zeba Textiles have, however, appreciated the ANP’s decision to observe a day of mourning on Saturday without calling for a strike. Sensing gravity of the situation the traders and industrialists gathered at the Federation House to ask political parties for the rationale behind observing daylong strikes after the tragic victimisation of their workers and supporters in terrorist attacks. “Is this a show of strength, nuisance or what,” said Dr Mirza Ikhtiyar Baig, aformer adviser to the prime minister on textile.
“How can these political parties justify such strikes? Are these linked to the eternal forgiveness of those martyred?” the industrialist asked, urging the business community to at least announce their boycott of all pro-strikes parties in the forthcoming election.
Demanding the government of a markup subsidy to compensate the businessmen for days of forced closures, Baig said the businessmen should not support those parties involved in forced closure of businesses, torching vehicles and giving strike calls on May 11.
Criticising the government for failing to establish its writ on a handful of miscreants, Baig wondered why traders representatives like Atiq Mir, chairman All Karachi Tajir Ittehad (AKTI), so promptly announce their support to the politically-motivated strike calls.
“Everybody present here would agree that we close businesses out of fear and not on the appeals of political parties,” Mir was quick to clarify. “Be it the PPP, MQM or ANP, the attitude of every party is known to all. Those calling for strike also exert severe pressure,” the AKTI chairman said.
Therefore, Mir suggested, the traders and businessmen should form a “pressure group” of their own that not only would deal with such politically-motivated pressures but also make an unwary government resolve the fraternity’s problems.
“It is a time-tested fact that our problems are only resolved when we agitate and stage sits-in,” claimed Mir, stressing that extortion, targeted killings, kidnapping for ransom, terrorism, frequent strikes, rallies and protests were the lingering issues the city was facing.
“We cannot sit idle. Make a pressure group to force the government to resolve our problems,” Mir said amidst ear-splitting desk-thumping by participants of the meeting. FPCCI President Zubair Ahmed Malik said unlike his predecessors, he would ensure that the government takes the traders of Karachi seriously.
Rizwana Shahid, acting chairperson of Handicraft Association, claiming to be the voice of the country’s 52 percent women population, joined her male counterparts in reiterating their demand for army’s deployment in Karachi before the election.
RESOLUTION FOR ARMY
DEPLOYMENT: The meeting adopted a hurriedly-prepared resolution calling for handing over Karachi’s control to the army for three weeks before the election, which are only 13 days away.
“The business community does not want to see the elections postponed so what is wrong in giving the city’s control to the army for three weeks,” said SM Muneer, chairman of the Din Group.
Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan said the dollar-hungry Pakistan had no choice but to go for polls on May 11. He said the cash-strapped country direly needed foreign exchange to avoid a possible Balance of Payment default. The participants of the meeting urged the government to slash its “unnecessary expenditures” and invest in power generation to resolve the economy-crippling energy crisis in the country, especially in Punjab.
