LAHORE: The All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajran (APAT) has started holding corner meetings with leaders of all the major wholesale and retail markets to give final shape to its countrywide “anti-government” protest march which is expected to be launched later this month against skyrocketing inflation and excessive taxation.

APAT Central Secretary General Naeem Mir while holding a corner meeting at Auriga Centre, Liberty, on Friday said that street crimes have risen sharply in the city and the sole reason behind it is skyrocketing inflation and joblessness. He said that traders have been crushed by the inflation and excessive taxation imposed by the government.

According to Mir, traders from across the country must unite and collectively launch a campaign and sent packing of the ruling PTI government because it miserably failed at every front, especially economic. He deplored that the opposition parties are not on “same page” at this “crucial moment” and the government is taking advantage of their differences.

He said the APAT would give final shape to its countrywide protest march by the end of this month.

“We will not sit idle till the acceptance of our demands and every trader gets “justice”. Countrywide agitation is the only solution to our concerns as the government always neglected us,” he said, adding that they are formulating a strategy to topple the government.

He alleged that all the tax reforms introduced by the PTI government to broaden the tax base have proven “fragile” and many taxpayers were facing hardships in filing of their tax returns. He asked the Point of Sale (POS) system has been badly failed and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is concealing this fact. He demanded of the government to revise the sales tax ratio from 17 percent to nine percent and stop harassing traders on the pretext of installation of POS machines.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022