Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 1: Police today foiled the scheduled march of flood-affected traders to Raj Bhavan here and detained several of them as they staged a protest against non-rehabilitation.
Dozens of traders under the banner of Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) assembled at Press Enclave in city centre here this morning and held a sit-in. The traders who were holding banners and placards raised slogans in favour of their rehabilitation.
They said the erstwhile coalition Government led by late Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed had promised their financial rehabilitation. “Now we are being deprived of rehabilitation and it is akin to stabbing our backs,” the agitating traders said. The traders urged the Centre and State Government to keep the promise made by Mufti Sayeed to the flood-hit traders and release the relief fund in their favour.
The KTMF faction headed by Bashir Ahmad has already called for a Valley-wide shutdown tomorrow against the reported proposal of Government to abandon financial assistance to the 2014 flood-affected traders of the region. The other trade bodies have also threatened stir if the Government goes ahead with its reported proposal.
After concluding their protest, the agitating traders attempted to march to Raj Bhavan where they were scheduled to submit a memorandum but police stopped their way and bundled them into police vehicles. The traders were detained at nearby Kothi Bagh police station and later let off.
Meanwhile, another faction of KTMF headed by Muhammad Yasin Khan has distanced itself from the shutdown call. Khan said once they get formal response from the Government over compensation only then they will decide about the future course of action.
“It has to be decisive campaign but as of now it’s all hearsay. Unless we get formal intimation from the government as to whatever it has decided, it will be premature to go for any strike,” he added.
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