Staff Report
RAWALPINDI: The leaders of the Rawalpindi Traders Action Committee said that the businesses of ten to twelve thousand traders of Raja Bazaar have been destroyed due to the closure of the roads. This city is ours. We are stakeholders, we pay taxes regularly. We live and die here. You are here today, not tomorrow. Our demands are legitimate. They should be fulfilled. We strongly demand from the Prime Minister, the Army Chief and the Chief Minister of Punjab that our problem be resolved on an urgent basis. If our demands are not accepted, banners will be put up all over the city.If the government does not change its decision, we will protest and sit-in with our afamilies after August 14, which will continue until the demands are accepted.
The leaders of the Rawalpindi Traders Action Committee informed the journalists about the problems of the traders in an important press conference at the Rawalpindi Press Club Liaquat Bagh. President Rawalpindi Trader Action Comety Anjum Parvaiz Bhatti,Chaudhry Sohail, Malik Tahir, Malik Nisar, Haji Sadaqat, Asif Akram, Senior Vice President of All Pakistan Traders Association, Kamal Pasha, Sheikh Shabbir, Tariq Sunni, Sheikh Afzal, and others said that this is a collective problem of the traders on which they were forced to hold a press conference. We spoke to the presidents of all the markets, with whom we formed an action committee in consultation. We raised our voice at every forum. There are ten to twelve thousand shops in Raja Bazaar where goods worth crores of rupees are lying. There is a serious problem of loading for new arriving goods, the route of twenty to twenty-five markets is connected to this area. The work of banks is also severely affected. We informed the relevant institutions but there was no hearing. We pay taxes, let us be told our fault. The traders further said that the rented shops have started to become empty. Our business has been destroyed, the owners are forced to fire the employees because the business is not going well. It is about to happen. The livelihood of thousands of families is linked to these markets. Where to leave the business worth crores of rupees? We ask what circumstances led to the government taking these steps. No one is ready to listen. Should we close the shops? Should we give you the keys? Where to go? Raja Bazaar and Murree Road are two important roads of Rawalpindi. The traffic of many areas of the city inside Raja Bazaar is severely affected. We are not allowed to go to our own areas. It is impossible to transport tons of goods to the closed area. The government’s logic is incomprehensible. The CPO held a meeting in which demands were presented. The SEO also said the same thing that this closure has caused losses. If this closure had benefited the country, we would be with the government. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has eliminated the encroachment mafia, for which we pay tribute to her. We fully supported this matter too. But suddenly this step was taken without any consultation. This city is ours. We are stakeholders. Our life and death is here. You are here today, not tomorrow. If necessary, we will also approach the court. Our demands are legitimate. They should be fulfilled. We supported the government. The votes that the PML-N got from the entire Rawalpindi district today were given by the people of Rawalpindi. We demand from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the Army Chief and the Chief Minister of Punjab that our problem be resolved on an urgent basis. If our demands are not accepted, banners will be put up all over the city. We will not allow the economic murder of traders. We will protest and sit-in with our families after August 14, which will continue until the demands are accepted.
