Sindh jewellers to go on one-day strike

Jewellers protesting against spate of robberies in Karachi, Sukkur

KARACHI: Jewellers at Karachi Sarraf bazaar, the biggest gold market in the country, will stage a day-long strike on Saturday to protest against a spate of robberies at their shops, an official of the jewellers association said.

“During the last two months, jewellery worth more than Rs75 million has been looted in six armed robberies,” Haroon Chand, president of All Sindh Sarraf and Jewellers Association, told The News.

Five of the robberies were committed in Karachi, while one in Sukkur, he said. “If the police failed to protect us, the government should issue the arm licences.”

Chand said the government remains indifferent to the security problem faced by jewellers.

“In Khairpur a jeweller was kidnapped and killed a couple of days back, but the culprits are still roaming free.”

Earlier, the protesting jewellers held a meeting at the main gold market of Karachi. Representatives of jewellers associations from other cities of Sindh also attended and announced their support to the strike call.

The jewellers demanded “full-proof” security for their businesses throughout the province.

Central Chairman of Pakistan Traders Alliance, Khawaja Shafiq, who is based in Multan, when contacted said the alliance supported the strike call given by Karachi Sarraf.

A 29-member action committee, which includes representatives from all-over Pakistan, has been formed to press for their demands which along with improvement in the law and order also pressing for cut in power tariff and withdrawal of the planned value-added tax, he said.

Shafiq threatened that all the traders would stage a series of token hunger-strikes in various parts of the country from April 2-10.

In the second-stage, traders plan rallies and demonstrations from April 11 to 12 and then would hold a countrywide strike on April 14.