PESHAWAR: Provincial general secretary of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Murtaza Javed Abbasi, said on Sunday that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had firmly rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) call for a shutter-down strike.
Abbasi demonstrated through the failed strike that citizens lacked confidence in the provincial government operations and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf political methods. He reported that traders conducted their normal operations because 90 percent of the province’s markets stayed open.
The public chooses to maintain peace and stability while supporting economic development instead of participating in protest activities. Abbasi accused PTI members of trying to intimidate traders into closing their shops while he demanded that authorities punish anyone who took part in these activities.
He condemned those actions because he believed it was wrong to force people into protests or business shutdowns and he stated that PTI needed to learn from its unsuccessful strike attempt.
Abbasi praised Khyber Pakhtunkhwa residents who demonstrated their commitment to Pakistan’s progress and well-being through their actions. He prayed for his country to achieve lasting peace and stability while its businesses received godly blessings.
Business community boycotts PTI protest as normal life continues in Charsadda
Moreover, the main markets in Wana, Lower South Waziristan, Charsadda, Bara Bazar, Haripur, and Mardan remained open as usual with business activities running smoothly. Traders, transporters, and the business community outright rejected Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) call for a nationwide shutter-down protest today.
Hotels, shops, and other commercial centers in Wana remain open, allowing citizens to continue their routine buying and selling without disruption. Although a small number of PTI workers staged a symbolic protest while holding party flags, there was no visible participation from the general public or the business community.
Traders expressed their frustration with repeated sit-ins and protest politics, labeling these activities as purely political and disconnected from the real issues faced by ordinary citizens. Business leaders urged political parties to focus on addressing public problems, ensuring economic stability, and promoting development in the region rather than calling for frequent protests.
Transporters and residents also rejected the shutdown call, asserting that such protests have lost their relevance and are unlikely to succeed. They questioned the justification for staging protests in a province where the PTI itself has been in power, adding that shutdowns only cause financial losses to common people and disrupt daily life.
Citizens emphasized that genuine concern for public welfare should be reflected through practical measures such as addressing basic civic issues, creating employment opportunities, and initiating development projects.
Meanwhile, in Charsadda, traders’ organizations announced a complete boycott of PTI’s nationwide protest. President of the Traders, Iftikhar Hussain Sarraf, United Shopkeepers President Hakimullah, and Traders Federation President Lal Muhammad Lal, issued separate statements rejecting the protest and instructed unions across all three tehsils to remain open.
Same traders in Mardan, Bara Bazar, Khyber district Landi Kotal, and Haripur also rejected the shutter-down protest of PTI and open their shops and business early in the morining. Routine life continue in the areas smothly.
They stated that during PTI’s three-year tenure, the party never addressed the problems of traders. Now, after facing political setbacks, it has turned to the business community. The leaders noted that the protest lacks concrete demands for traders or the public and revolves around the same slogans of protests, sit-ins, and rallies that have been repeated for the past three years.
According to them, such protest politics have brought nothing but financial losses to traders and hardship to citizens. Thus, they announced a complete rejection of PTI’s nationwide protest call and reaffirmed their commitment to keeping markets open and supporting economic activity.
