Bashir Hussain Azad
CHITRAL: Traders, political parties and civil society groups held protests and observed a complete shutter-down strike in Lower and Upper Chitral against the possible imposition of federal taxes in Malakand Division.
The protesters, responding to calls from the Chitral Traders Union and Malakand Traders Association, demanded that the constitutional and legal status of Malakand Division as a tax-free zone be maintained.
In Lower Chitral, a large protest gathering was held at Ataliq Bridge, attended by traders, lawyers, political and social leaders and local residents. Traffic on the bridge remained suspended during the demonstration.
Speakers, including Chitral Traders Union President Noor Ahmed Khan, lawyers and representatives of various political parties and employee organisations, said Malakand Division was a relatively underdeveloped region that had also been severely affected by natural disasters.
They argued that residents could not afford the burden of federal taxation and warned that any attempt to withdraw the region’s tax-free status would lead to wider protests, sit-ins and shutter-down strikes across Chitral and other areas of Malakand Division.
In Upper Chitral, traders and representatives of various political parties held a protest rally in Booni on the call of Malakand Traders Association President Haji Abdul Rahim. The rally culminated in a large gathering at the central square.
Speakers at the Booni protest said imposing tax laws designed for developed cities such as Islamabad on the people of Upper Chitral, who are deprived of basic facilities, would be unfair. They also opposed what they described as placing the burden of privileges enjoyed by the elite on ordinary citizens.
Booni Traders Union President Rahim Khan thanked political and social organisations and traders for participating in the protest. He said the movement, under the leadership of Haji Abdul Rahim, was aimed at protecting the rights of the people.
He warned that if the demands were not accepted, the protest movement would be expanded to include hunger strikes, sit-ins and a march towards Islamabad.
The protest concluded with prayers led by former Jamaat-e-Islami leader Maulana Javed Hussain.