Hunza [Pakistan], July 22 : Several traders were detained on Monday after protests broke out at the Pakistan-China border against tax policies, prompting the closure of the Sost Dry Port on the call of the Pak-China Trades Action Committee, a traders' organisation in Gilgit-Baltistan, Dawn reported.
Traders blocked the Karakoram Highway at multiple points in Hunza and Nagar districts, leaving a large number of domestic and foreign tourists stranded. The protest was part of a wider movement against income and sales taxes being collected at the Sost Silk Dry Port, Dawn stated.
"Traders had blocked the Karakoram Highway by staging a sit-in at two places in the Hunza area, in which the Murtazaabad sit-in ended," Hunza Deputy Commissioner (DC) Huzaifa Anwar told Dawn. "However, a sit-in is ongoing in the Sost area of the Pak-China border. Talks are being held with the traders there. It is likely that it will be cleared in two to three hours," he added.
According to DC Anwar, three traders were taken into custody at the Sost Dry Port after the sit-in was announced. "One of them has been released, but two are in custody," he said, adding, "The traders were not arrested and are in protective custody. If they had been arrested, a case would have been registered, but no case has been registered against any trader."
"At present, the priority is to resolve the issue of the closure of the Karakoram Highway, since there are a large number of tourists in the area who are facing problems in their movement," he told Dawn.
Tensions escalated after traders claimed that police raided the homes of several activists the night before the protest. According to them, those detained included Ali Nazar, Abbas Mir, and Farman Tajik. In response, traders pitched protest tents on the Karakoram Highway at Nagar Rakaposhi and Murtazaabad in Hunza, leaving hundreds stranded, Dawn reported.
Addressing a sit-in in Nagar, former GB Chamber of Commerce president and businessman Javed Hussain blamed the local administration for disrupting what he described as a peaceful protest. "Now, if the district administration has any power, then keep the traders in custody; otherwise, we will break out our colleagues and show them," he said. "I will not compromise on the interests of GB. If it means leaving the PML-N for this, I will leave it a thousand times."
Protesters also raised slogans against Hunza's deputy commissioner and police chief, holding them responsible for the crackdown.
Former Chamber of Commerce president Imran Ali stated that the traders' main grievance was the imposition of taxes at the border port. "Earlier too, an understanding was reached on some issues regarding the protest of the traders against the aforementioned taxes at the Pak-China border, but the issue arose again because of which the Silk Route Dry Port was closed today," he said.
Meanwhile, Nagar DC Asghar Khan claimed that the highway closure was due to a Muharram procession, not the traders' sit-in. "However, the highway was not closed anywhere. The Nagar administration has not even arrested any trader," he said, according to Dawn.
DC Anwar also assured that the situation was "completely under control" and negotiations with the traders were ongoing.
This is not the first time traders in Gilgit-Baltistan have launched protests against the federal government's trade policies. In June, local importers and exporters protested against what they described as exploitative taxation by the Federal Board of Revenue, backed by political parties. A similar indefinite protest was also held in May, during which traders blocked the Karakoram Highway at Pissan in Nagar, Dawn noted.