Markazi Anjuman Tajiran (MAT), Small Traders Chamber (STC), Pakistan Traders Alliance (PTA) have rejected the closure of bazaars at 8:00 pm during the month of Ramazan and had formally informed the authorities of their decision in this regard.
Traders' organisations headed by Khawaja Muhammad Shafiq (PTA) Khawaja Suleman Siddiqui, ( MAT) Khalid Mehmood Qureshi (STC) said that there was no justification for continuation of two-day weekly holiday and closure of shops at 0800 PM when the government failed to reduce the duration of power loadshedding and supply of electricity regularly even for eight hours.
The traders have also demanded the issuance of a new price list of the essential food items before the month of Ramazan. They said that traders of Multan were already shutting down their shops at 0900 PM but during Ramzan, they have to offer Namaz-i-Traveeh and no customer would visit the markets during Iftar and Traveeh and they would visit Bazaars after 10-00 pm when the Traveeh prayers would be over.
They said, "we have decided for not following the closure time at 8:00 pm during Ramazan and keeping their shops opened till late night in the month of Ramazan. They also demanded that FIRs should not be registered under Section 3/6 and called for review of the law. They condemned the seizure of customs duty paid goods in districts of Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan by customs authorities and demanded of the prime minister to take immediate action in this regard.