By Our Correspondent
LAHORE: Engineer Khalid Usman, Senior Vice President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), has urged the entire business community to extend full support to the nationwide shutter-down strike being observed on Saturday, which has been collectively announced by traders’ alliances and chambers of commerce across Pakistan.
While not the initiator of the strike call, Khalid Usman expressed firm solidarity with the cause, highlighting the severe economic pressures faced by the trading and business sector due to unjust taxation, skyrocketing inflation, and anti-business policies.
“This is not about confrontation — it is about survival,” Usman said in his Friday message. “I urge all traders and businessmen to support this peaceful protest. Let us stand shoulder to shoulder in the interest of our future.”
Usman noted that chambers of commerce from Karachi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, and Sialkot, along with hundreds of market associations, have thrown their weight behind the strike call, declaring it a necessary and timely move to push for relief.
He emphasized the importance of unity, saying,
“This strike is a message — not just of protest, but of collective pain. If we remain silent today, tomorrow will be even more difficult.”
Markets across the country are expected to remain closed on Saturday in a rare display of nationwide business solidarity, hoping the government will finally take notice and open meaningful dialogue with the business community.
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