Srinagar: Scores of trade leaders protesting the Goods and Services Tax (GST) were arrested here on Tuesday. Among those leaders were Showkat Chowdhary, Zahoor Tramboo, Siraj Ahmad, Jan Mohd Koul, Faiz Bakshi, Manzoor Bhat, Mauzam Bakshi, Muzaffar Khan, Yaseen Khan, Iqbal Tramboo, Mubeen Shah, Shakeel Qalandar, some of whom have been put under house arrest.
Earlier this month, on July 1, Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) led by its president Mohammad Yaseen Khan held a sit-in at the City Centre Lal Chowk in opposition of the GST roll-out in the state.
Khan, along with some of his colleagues was taken to the police station, Kothi bagh. Khan also appealed to the civil society to come forward for a joint strategy to counter the sinister moves of the present dispensation.
Last month on the June 27, the government said that it will protect the special status of the state and will have a separate GST that will not erode the fiscal and constitutional position of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Our power to tax will remain unquestioned under GST,” Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu said.
Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) on Friday in a statement said that the organization will strongly oppose any attempt by the Government to forcibly or clandestinely implementing GST in its present.
The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCC&I) held a condemnation meet on Saturday, July 1, here over the highhandedness and police assault on its President, Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, who was assaulted in Srinagar, when he was on the way for Taraweeh, special evening prayers in the month of Ramzan.
The Jammu Chamber in a meeting had welcomed the Government’s decision to hold a special assembly session for the smooth implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the state.
Condemning the highhandedness of police assault over its president, Faiz Bakshi, Secretary General KCC&I last month on June 17 has said, “we share our serious concern over such lawlessness where even the passers-by are not spared.”
“We did not attend the meet,” said KCC&I Secretary General, Faiz Bakshi. “The KCC&I has written a letter in which we have sought ‘supply terms of reference of forming board’ (TAB) from the chief minister’s office (CMO).”
