KARACHI: Pakistani traders in this seaside metropolis on Friday complained of 40 percent reduction in Independence Day sales of national flags, badges and other decorative items due to a coronavirus lockdown imposed by the provincial administration of Sindh.
People in Pakistan traditionally purchase flags, buntings, badges and other decorative items in large quantities to celebrate August 14.
Thousands of people start visiting Karachi’s paper market on MA Jinnah Road from the beginning of August to buy Independence Day products to prepare for the celebrations.
A large number of people are buying flags, badges, buntings, stickers, caps and other decorative items from a stall in Karachi’s paper market on August 13, 2021, to prepare for Pakistan's Independence Day. (AN Photo)
However, the market has only carried out its business activities for four days during the ongoing month since the Sindh government imposed a 10-day lockdown to prevent the coronavirus spread in the country’s most densely populated city.
“We have estimated that our sales of flags and other Independence Day items went down by about 30 to 40 percent this year due to the recent lockdown,” Atiq Mir, who heads a merchants’ association in the city, told Arab News on Friday.
“Last year, the sales were much better since market activities could be carried out until late at night,” he added.
In keeping with the directives of the Sindh administration, markets in Karachi also remain closed on Fridays and Sundays to contain the spread of coronavirus infections.
A girl is blowing a trumpet after buying it from a street vendor in Karachi on August 13, 2021. (AN Photo)
People directly dealing with the sales of Independence Day items complained about the strict imposition of virus restrictions while speaking to Arab News on Friday.
“It was like a curfew had been imposed in the market,” Shaikh Nisar Ahmed Perchamwala, who runs a major flag manufacturing and distribution outlet, said. “The lockdown completely ruined our business.”
Street vendors also maintained that much of their merchandize had been unsold.
“I set up a stall on Thursday to sell Pakistani flags along with green bangles and other stuff, but I was asked to wrap it up by police officials today [Friday],” Sabihuddin, a vendor who only mentioned his first name, said. “I still have about Rs20,000 of products left.”
Some traders in Karachi noted the Independence Day sales remained normal in other parts of the country where buying activities complemented the traditional celebratory mood ahead of the major national occasion.
Many Pakistani buyers also purchased flags of Kashmir to express solidarity with the residents of the disputed territory under Indian rule who lost the special constitutional status of their territory a little more than two years ago.
