Thousands of shopkeepers in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar joined together on Saturday to protest rising costs across the board, including those of power and fuel.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and other trade groups called for a strike, which was backed by lawyers who avoided going to court.
Signs protesting “the unreasonable increase in electricity bills and taxes” were displayed in deserted bazaars in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and other towns across the country, when commercial hubs and business centres remained closed.
Major thoroughfares saw significantly fewer commuters using public transportation and other modes of transportation.
The situation has “become unbearable now,” Ajmal Hashmi, president of the Township Traders Union in Lahore, told AFP. “Everyone is participating because the situation has become unbearable now.” “There needs to be some help given so that families can afford to eat.”
The Tajir Action Committee (TAC) issued a deadline of 72 hours to the interim administration on Friday in Karachi to cut high electricity rates and remove recently imposed petroleum charges.
TAC Convener Muhammad Rizwan, praising the JI for speaking out against rising living costs, said that merchants in the metropolis were under no need to participate in the strike but that the rapid rise in inflation was cause for concern.
The administration is unable to see the writing on the wall, according to Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).
He said it was especially concerning that the petroleum duty had been raised to Rs60 per litre, adding that the interim government was inviting a new wave of inflation by raising petrol prices again.
“Out-of-the-box thinking is needed to emerge from the economic crisis,” he said further.
People have been burning their electrical bills in protest over the past few days, and this strike is a continuation of that disturbance.
See also: Today, workers around the country will go on strike in protest of rising prices.
The new national average pricing for the fiscal year 2023-24, as announced in July by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), is Rs29.78 per unit kWh. The prior estimate for the national average tariff had been Rs24.82, therefore this was an increase of Rs4.96 per unit.
The former administration announced a nationwide basic electricity rate hike of Rs3.50 per unit later in the month of August.
“The bills we have received this month exceed our earnings,” Babar Mahmood, head of the Electronics Market Traders Union in Lahore, stated.
“People are becoming increasingly estranged from those in power.”
Sindh’s interim chief minister, Justice (ret.) Maqbool Baqar, issued a statement acknowledging the difficulties people were having and recognising the legitimacy of their right to demonstrate.
But he stressed the importance of protesters not disrupting the lives of ordinary people.
He insisted that problems were being addressed together by federal and provincial authorities.
Traders in several cities across Punjab went on a “shutdown strike,” and JI activists in Nankana Sahib held a rally in the streets to protest rising electricity prices, as seen in photos posted to the JI’s X (previously Twitter) account.
Continued nationwide protests against rising energy prices and inflation
Syed Zeeshan Akhtar, the leader of JI in Bahawalpur, also organised a gathering there.
Outside of Peshawar, businesses in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa were shuttered.
Here are some of them: Shangla, Bisham, Alpuri, Puran, Swat, Mingora, Khwazakhela, Barikot, Dir Timergara, Warai, and Malakand.
Mansehra, Abbottabad, and Haripur were among the other K-P cities to see some of the strike’s effects.
Images of empty storefronts in the Upper Dir and Abbottabad areas were published by the JI.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, for his part, dismissed the recent spike in electricity prices as “non-issue” on Friday.
He emphasised the importance of customers’ timely bill payments.
Pakistan’s economy has been crippled by years of poor leadership and political unrest, and this summer, the country had to make a deal with the IMF to avoid going bankrupt.
However, the international lender insisted on cutting well-liked benefits that reduced household expenses. After the government gave in to its demands, gas and electricity rates shot through the roof. As reported by AFP
