Shutters down, traders speak up

NAGPUR: In a show of support to Anna Hazare and the Jan Lokpal bill, an overwhelming majority of traders around the city kept their businesses closed on Monday.
Throughout the day, shops were closed as protesters took to the streets and rallies were taken out. However, medical shops remained open.
Toy shop owner Anil Agarwal said the protesters did tell him to shut down the shop in the morning."Some protesters did alert us in the morning but I had to explain them the reason why I refused to shut down my shop. I do support the Jan Lokpal bill but not by means of keeping my business closed," he said.
Pratap Motwani, general secretary of wholesale grain and seeds association, was one of the many who had kept their shop closed to take part in the protest. He said, "We wholesalers suffer a lot due to corruption. No work is done without bribes. The Jan Lokpal bill is a ray of hope for us."
Most shop owners agreed that they had had to pay bribes for their shops. Optician Imad Hussain said, "People want to avoid running from pillar to post, so they find it easier to get work done through an agent. The government babus don't work unless they are paid bribes."
Other traders said giving bribes was a matter of necessity and a measure to keep the business running without hassles. Stationery shop owner Turab Ali said, "Officials pick faults in shops. Shopkeepers don't mind offering bribes to them to keep the stove burning at their homes."
Apart from keeping their establishments closed, traders also joined in the protests. Vice president of Nag Vidarbha Chamber of Commerce (NVCC) Dipen Agrawal said that shop owners had organized a rally for the support of Jan Lokpal bill. "The NVCC had called for Vidarbha bandh to register its support for the bill. It speaks volumes about the mood of people in Vidarbha and the seriousness of the issue."
While traders supported Hazare, a Gandhian, many were not sure that protesters and rallyists would maintain peace. Rajkumar Daryani was apprehensive about opening his mobile repair shop as rallies were organized 'in full force'. "I did not want to land in soup by opening the shop in the morning. I feared that protesters would pelt stones at my store."
Most traders believed that the bill could make a difference. "I have faith in the framework of Jan Lokpal bill," Pratap Motwani said. "I am supporting it because I am a victim of corruption."