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India-Pakistan
Seven days of protest come to nothing
2007-08-04
That's pretty much Pakistan in the nut-shell.
ISLAMABAD: Aabpara Market Traders have asked Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to compensate them for the damage caused by a suicide bomb blast in the market so that they can restart their business.

The affected traders have staged a sit-in in front of the market for the last seven days. At least 20 shops and stalls were affected by the suicide attack that claimed 15 lives. The traders said the government had promised to give Rs 50,000 to each of the injured, Rs 100,000 to the bereaved families and a ‘handsome amount’ for the traders to enable them to restart their business. “No political figure or minister bothered to visit the affected shopkeepers,” they complained.
Suckers. Did you expect Perv to feel your pain?
They said customers were not coming to the market out of panic and their business was declining day by day. “We have been protesting for seven days but no one turned up to compensate us,” they said. They demanded release of the ‘handsome amount’ as per the government’s promise at the earliest. They said their families were suffering a lot due to the market closure and the government should realise this fact.

The injured from the blast said they were being given no special treatment contrary to the government claims. “They turned me into a newt I have returned from the Polyclinic without taking medical aid” Raja Riasat, 55, told Daily Times. He said he got better was too injured to line up for medical examination. The traders urged the government to arrange for medical treatment of their colleague Chaudhry Amjad, whose legs were injured badly. They said Amjad had not recovered even after four operations.

“We are ready to support the government in the fight against terrorism but the government should not ignore us,” they said. They said it was unfair to force them to pay security fee of the damaged gas meters to the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL).

Muhammad Sarfraz of Muzaffargarh Nihari House told Daily Times that SNGPL had demanded Rs 45,000 to restore his gas connection. He said his hotel was directly hit by the blast but SNGPL cared only for its dues. He demanded the government to help the traders. Chaudhry Saeed, Chaudhry Mobin, Iqbal Khan, Shahid Abbasi, Kamran Abbassi, Abdul Hameed, Mehboob, Chaudhry Amjad, Tasveer Abbassi, Sabir, Ibrar Abbassi are among the affected traders.

Aabpara Traders Action Committee (ATAC) Vice President Arshad Abbasi has urged the government to increase the compensation amount for the injured and the bereaved families. Five mobile phone shops, a medical store, two hotels, a saloon and many stalls were badly damaged in the blast, said Abbasi.
Posted by:Steve White

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