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Salamabad-Chakothi LoC trade still suspended

SYED YASIR. Dated: 9/5/2013 11:17:27 PM

Traders stage protest demonstration

SRINAGAR, Sep 5: The Salamabad-Chakothi LoC Trader continued to remain suspended for the fourth consecutive day today against the alleged hurdles being created by Customs Department.
The traders also held a protest demonstration here against the recent order of customs department. The JCCI president Dr Mubeen Shah and Economic alliance president Yasin Khan also participated in the protest.
The traders were holding banners and placards in their hands and were shouting slogans against the central government decision to impose custom duty on the goods imported from Pakistan.
The protesters also sought the intervention of Governor N N Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to resolve the issue.
Talking to Kashmir Times, Hilal Ahmad Turkey, General Secretary of the Salamabad-Chakothi trade union alleged that central government does not allow them to carry smooth trade.
He said that the order is in violation of the trade modalities fixed by New Delhi and Islamabad in 2008 when the trader was started between the divided parts of the state.
“95 percent of our goods are coming from Pakistan. Only few goods are coming from Pakistan administered Kashmir. If the custom duties are imposed on Pakistani goods, the entire LoC trader will collapse and the traders are not ready to buy the goods importing from Pakistan,” the president of the Salamabad Chakothi traders union said.
The traders said that they have decided to suspend the trader for an indefinite period till the order is not been revoked. “Under such harsh modalities, we are not ready to go far trade. Out of 600 traders initially, only 50 traders are left which have continued the trade and the confidence building measure started by both the countries. In case, the order is not revoked, we will not continue trade and the entire responsibility lies on Government of India,” he said.
The General Secretary also said the trade is now “taking its last breaths” and with this, gloom and despair is descending on the youth of Kashmir which can have its own repercussions.
Hilal Turkey urged the Governor N N Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdulla to intervene into the matter and use their influence in communicating the central government to revoke the controversial order.
“If the confidence building measure has to be maintained in true spirit, then the trade should be allowed without any further problems being created by central government,” the traders said.
They also said the entire traders community is unaware the fact that whether the LoC is a bilateral or tri lateral trade involving third country. “When the trade was started it was stated that it is a bilateral trade between the divided parts of the state. Now the customs department is saying that third country is involved in the trade and thus imposes the customs duty,” he said.
He also said that the Trade Facilitation Centers gave their own diktat that in the trade only Pakistan Administered Kashmir products can come, not the products from the main parts of Pakistan.
“This in a way tantamounts to giving PAK a status of separate country and negating India's stand on PAK. This weird order and other discouraging steps have left trade dead with only 2 to 3 non lucrative tradable items,” he said.
The traders also said that in case of products to be traded from India the Ministry of Home Affairs has the final say, whereas for the products coming from Pakistan the Customs Department acting as Trade Facilitation Center has been wielded this power. All this is gross violation of prescribed norms as the Trade Facilitation Officer on actual paradigm has no locus standi over the issue.
The traders also said that authorities are simply treating the noble traders just as smugglers and rather than facilitating trade they are acting as impediments. “Our traders have nothing to do with subversive activities. But the CID department has not cleared their names for issuing direct passes till Salamabad post and has even barred around 4o traders from trading,” they said.
They also said that in Standing Operation Procedure signed on July 21, 2008, 21 items were approved for trade. It was also mentioned in the SOP to review the list after every three months, but no such effort has been made by governments to revive trade item list despite repeated pleas made by traders and assurances given by concerned authorities in one to one meetings.