Taxes imposition plan: Shutdown observed in Malakand division

MINGORA: A shutdown strike was observed in all nine districts of the Malakand division on Tuesday to register a protest at the plan to end the special status of the region and impose taxes there.

The Malakand division Traders Federation had given the strike call, which claimed that the Constitution had been amended to end the special status of the Malakand region.

The federation feared in the next step various taxes would be imposed on all the nine districts of the Malakand division — Swat, Buner, Shangla, Malakand, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Upper Chitral, Lower Chitral and Bajaur after July 1, this year. All the business centres, bazaars, markets and small factories remained closed during the strike.

The traffic on the roads remained thin during the protest. The private educational institutions remained shut while the lawyers stayed away from the courts.

It was for the first time in the history of the division that chemists and hoteliers too took part in the protest and kept outlets shut.

The lawyer community extended support to the shutdown as all the district bar associations and Peshawar High Court Mingora Bench Bar Association backed the shutdown call. The lawyers stayed away from the courts in the nine districts of the division.

Talking to the media, Malakand division Traders Federation President Abdur Rahim came down hard on the members of the assemblies for their silence of the state of affairs. “It is because of their (legislators) incompetence that first the special status of federally administered tribal areas was done away with and now that of the provincially administered tribal areas,” he added.

The trader body chief said the people would never accept the end of the PATA status. “We are not ready to accept imposition of Income and Sales taxes in Malakand division,” he added.

Abdur Rahim insisted that Malakand was a tax-free zone. “We appeal to the government not to put more economic burden on people of this region who have been hit by terrorism, quakes, floods and other natural disasters in the past,” he added.

The trader body chief asked the government to refrain from the plan or else the people would be compelled into launching a civil disobedience movement and the government would be solely responsible for the consequences.

KHAR: The traders’ bodies, including All Bajaur Traders’ Association and Bajaur Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly staged a protest rally against levying taxes in Bajaur and elsewhere in Malakand division.

Traders’ leaders Sufi Hameed, Imran Mahir, Amir Rahman, Lali Shah and others expressed resentment over the government’s plan to impose taxes in Malakand division.

They said that militancy and natural disasters had already affected businesses in Bajaur and the traders were not able to pay taxes.

The protesters threatened to launch a protest sit-in outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in Peshawar and Islamabad if the decision to levy taxes wasn’t withdrawn forthwith.

ALPURI: In Shangla, the traders downed the shutters and closed the markets and bazaars in Bisham city, Alpuri, Puran, Shahpur and elsewhere in the district against the possible imposition of the Customs Act. The protesting traders said that they could not pay taxes as they had been devastated by terrorism and natural disasters.

DIR: A complete shutdown strike was observed in Upper Dir. The strike, called by the traders’ community, was supported by lawyers, private schools, and other segments of society. All markets, shopping malls, and business centers were closed, and traffic flow was affected.