Condemning the registration of fake case under the SC / ST Act against a few traders of Tirunelveli Town, all shops, including leading textile showrooms on North and East Car Streets downed the shutters for about 90 minutes on Wednesday.
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The token strike, which started at 9 a.m., was withdrawn at 10.30 a.m.
The protesting traders, having their shops on North and East Car Streets of Tirunelveli Town, said the pavement hawkers, who were blocking the way to their shops were creating problem for them for the past several years. When the traders opposed this, cases under SC / ST Act were registered in Tirunelveli Town police station based on the “false complaints” filed by a few pavement hawkers.
President of North Car Street Traders’ Association Sankaranarayanan said the Corporation and the district administration should find a separate place for pavement hawkers who were chocking the passage to their shops.
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“Since our customers are being denied access to our shops by the pavement hawkers, it often triggers altercations between them. As we support our customers, they turn their ire against us and file false complaints that get registered by the police under SC / ST Act, which should be withdrawn. This is only a token agitation. If this protest fails to evoke positive response from the official machinery, we’ve decided to close the shops indefinitely,” Mr. Sanakaranarayanan warned.