Locals in the Madyan area stormed a shopping mall where MPA Fazal Hakeem was invited to the inaugural of the newly erected mall at Madyan area of Swat. The local shopkeepers and traders in droves entered the premise of the shopping mall and forcefully stopped the MPA in the presence of hundreds of his supporters from inaugurating the mall.
The traders and shopkeepers charged by lockdown lamented the MPA for attending the ceremony breaking the lockdown policy. They said the government was forcing the shopkeepers to comply with its lockdown strategy whereas its own MPA had turned up at the opening ceremony along with his hundred if supporters.
We have been told to observe the lockdown on Friday and Saturday, however, this MPA of the ruling government turned up at this event without bearing in mind the fear of virus spreading and lockdown, a shopkeeper said, adding that both the MPA and owner of the Mall had violated the SOPs and lockdown and therefore he urged the authorities to take legal action against both of them and their supporters present at the ceremony. The same shopkeepers who didn’t want his name to be mentioned said they had been totally down financially by this lockdown and had yet not recovered from the losses that were inflicted on them by the previous lockdown in their area.
“We are going along the instructions given to us by the administration and that’s why we are cooperative with them for the sake of putting an end to the virus spread,” he said, adding that they were astonished to see how an MPA could come, çrushing SOPs under feet and attend the opening ceremony.
