MARDAN: Markazi Tanzeem-e-Tajiran (Zahir Group) on Tuesday staged a protest rally against smart lockdown, high taxes and soaring prices of petroleum products and electricity.
The rally began from the Mardan Chamber of Commerce and Industry office and proceeded toward Kutchehri Chowk where the march converted into a protest.
The rally was led by president of Markazi Tanzeem-e-Tajiran Pakistan, Muhammad Kashif Chaudhry, provincial general secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Zahir Shah, Ghulam Sarwar Saraf, Sahibzada, Waheed Gul, Tariq Khan, Wahab Yousafi, Asad Jamal, Bakht Munir, Asad Khan, Asif Iqbal, Abid, Murad, Malik Najeebullah, Faqir Saraf, Shamshir Khan, Arif, Fazal Waheed, Ghulam Qadir, Nasir Lala, Wajid, Amjad, Farhad and others.
A large number of traders participated in the rally.Addressing the rally, Muhammad Kashif Chaudhry demanded that the government lift the smart lockdown implemented throughout the country till Eidul Azha.
He maintained that traders had spent millions of rupees buying sacrificial animals for Eidul Azha but were unable to sell their merchandise because of restrictions.He said that rising prices of petroleum products, hike in electricity rates, additional taxes, and exorbitant utility bills had made things worse for them.
Talking about the hardships of traders, Muhammad Kashif Chaudhry said that the increased prices of petrol had triggered inflation, and also extra taxes in electricity and capacity payments to the Independent Power Plants had been an additional burden.
He maintained that it had become extremely tough for traders to pay rent of shops, electricity bills, and finance education of their children.Zahir Shah maintained that the current policies of federal and provincial governments were creating hardships for the traders.
