Web Desk: Traders in Pakistan’s Malakand Division have announced plans to shut the Chakdara motorway to all traffic on Oct. 7, escalating their campaign against the imposition of taxes and seeking restoration of what they describe as the region’s constitutional and legal status.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Malakand Division Traders Organizing Committee chaired by its president, Abdul Rahim, at a hotel in Chakdara. Senior trader representatives, including Swat Traders Federation General Secretary Dr Khalid Mahmood Khalid, attended the meeting.
The traders said several taxes have been imposed on residents of Malakand Division since June 30, including charges reflected in electricity and gas bills as well as property, income, customs and general sales taxes.
Khalid said traders would continue their campaign against the tax measures and demand restoration of the division’s previous constitutional and legal position.
He argued that the additional financial burden was unacceptable for a region that has faced prolonged insecurity, poverty, underdevelopment and repeated flood damage.
Meanwhile, the traders appealed to civil society groups, lawyers, journalists, private schools and hospitals, labourers and political parties to join the protest movement.
The organizers urged provincial and district-level political leaders and workers to participate in the demonstration, saying broader participation would strengthen their demands.
According to the traders’ decision, the Chakdara motorway will be closed to all traffic on Wednesday, Oct. 7, as part of the planned sit-in.
The traders also called on residents across Malakand Division to join the protest and press for relief from the newly imposed taxes as well as the restoration of the region’s constitutional and legal status.
The planned blockade could disrupt traffic on a key route in the region, with the scale and duration of the disruption likely to depend on participation and the response from authorities.
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