Shops will remain open till 8 pm starting tomorrow, the Tajir Action Committee in Karachi announced on Friday; in violation of the 6 pm shut down time outlined by the Sindh government. A notification by the committee, said that the government had made no contact with traders, had not accepted a single demand of theirs; and only acted “unilaterally”. “If the police resort to use of force or attempt to seal markets, we will protest;” said the notification. Three days ago, the Karachi Tajir Action Committee had demanded the Sindh government allow businesses to remain open till 8 pm.
The committee leaders, in a press conference:
The government to withdraw the powers given to the magistrate to seal markets and impose fines on businesses. The committee said that the federal and Sindh governments should not make decisions without consulting businessmen. They also said that their demands should be accepted within 72 hours; or else they will announce a new plan of action. Businessman Atiq Mir remarked that it was only the MQM that asked them about the difficulties they were facing.
“Sindh Government and NCOC are ignoring us, in Sindh the education minister is making decisions related to businesses,” said Mir. He warned that if businesses in Karachi are not allowed to open past 8 pm then they will protest. Meanwhile, businessman Sharjeel Goplani alleged that the district administration took Rs1 million; as a bribe from the mobile market and also took valuable mobile phones from them. He added that businessmen were demanding the governor’s rule in the province.
Confusion regarding Sindh’s COVID response
The traders’ committee’s announcement today comes amid confusion regarding the province’s response to the coronavirus crisis. The provincial government had announced that due to a decrease in covid positivity rate, part of which involved reducing business hours.
Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah had said that the new rules would remain in place for at least two weeks. At the time, he said that in Sindh; a 3% positivity ratio was observed overall. In Karachi; the positivity ratio stood at more than 13% and in Hyderabad; it was recorded at more than 10%. A day earlier, the Sindh education minister; Saeed Ghani, had indicated the government plans on reopening sectors.