Malakand'da Vergilere Karşı Kitlesel Protesto: 'Geri Adım Atılmazsa Eyalet Çapında Hareket Başlatacağız'

Traders, political parties rally against imposition of taxes in KP's Malakand

A man holds a placard during a protest in Khar, Bajaur, on Sunday. — Dawn SWAT/LOWER DIR/BAJAUR: Rallies were staged on Sunday against the imposition of taxes in Malakand division, with participants asking the federal and provincial governments to immediately withdraw the decision, or they would launch a province-wide protest movement. Lawyers, traders, political leaders, elders, and workers of various political parties attended a demonstration held in Swat. Swat Traders’ Federation president Abdur Rahim Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami leader Inayatullah Khan, PTI MNA Dr Amjad Ali and MPA Fazal Hakim Khan, ANP leader Sher Shah Khan, JUI-F’s Ijaz Khan, PML-N’s Qawai Khan, PPP’s Akhtar Hussain and others addressed the protesters. They said that Malakand people had endured unprecedented hardships over the past two decades, including the devastating 2005 earthquake, years of terrorism, military operations, displacement, and recurring floods. Participants criticise Centre for taxing people already suffering from terrorism, natural disasters They argued that despite suffering repeated natural disasters and prolonged conflict, the region had not received adequate development projects or economic relief from successive governments. Instead, they said the imposition of new taxes had placed an additional financial burden on a population already struggling with economic challenges. Rather than extending relief, the government has imposed taxes that will further aggravate the difficulties faced by the local population, the speakers said, and warned that if the taxation policy was not withdrawn immediately, a sustained protest campaign would be launched across the division. In Lower Dir, JI staged a rally in Timergara against the imposition of taxes in Malakand, demanding that the government withdraw the decision. The protest, attended by party workers, traders and residents from across the district, was led by JI Lower Dir emir Maulana Asadullah. The participants marched through various roads before gathering at Gorgorai Chowk, where speakers criticised the government’s taxation policy and warned of a wider protest movement if their demands were not met. Addressing the gathering, Maulana Asadullah, JI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa North deputy emir Arshad Zaman, JI Lower Dir general secretary Shoaib Ahmad, Timergara Traders’ Association president Anwaruddin and information secretary Malik Sher Bahadur Khan said the people of Malakand rejected the imposition of taxes in the region. The speakers said they were not opposed to taxation in principle, but argued that the government had failed to honour commitments made to the people of Malakand at the time of the region’s merger with Pakistan in 1969. They claimed that the area had been promised tax-free status for a specified period and that successive governments had failed to fulfil their obligations to the region. They said Malakand continued to lag behind other parts of the province and the country in terms of development and public services. In Bajaur, members of political parties and the business community staged a protest demonstration in the Inayat Kallay Bazaar against the imposition of federal taxes in the division. The protesters, holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the federal government, also raised their voices against the prolonged unrest in the district. Bajaur Amn Jirga head Sahibzada Haroon Rashid, Jamaat leader Sardar Khan, Khar Traders’ Association president Wajid Ali Shah, JUI-F’s Imran Mahir and others addressed the gathering and expressed concern over the imposition of taxes. Describing the taxes as “adding salt to the wounds” of millions suffering from unrest, poor law and order, poverty and backwardness, the speakers said the federal government should have considered the ground realities before imposing taxes. They said the “unfair and unlawful” imposition of taxes showed that the federal government had no concern for the 20 million people facing serious issues in the region. Citing the Sartaj Aziz Commission report, the speakers said the region was to remain tax-free till 2028. They said it was necessary for the federal government to fulfill its commitment of providing Rs100 billion annually and a three per cent share in the NFC Award to the region. They said if the federal government understood the problems faced by residents, it would not have imposed taxes. Haroon Rashid announced that a meeting of the political and business community from all tribal districts and the Malakand division would be held in Peshawar on July 16 to plan a protest rally in Islamabad against federal taxes. Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2026