Thaindian News

Shimla, Dec 1 (IANS) Shops and commercial establishments were closed in almost all towns in Himachal Pradesh Thursday as traders protested the decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail.

However, there was no report of traffic being held up due to the strike. There was also no report of violence anywhere, an official at the police headquarters here said.

In Shimla, over 6,000 shopkeepers kept their shops closed.

“The shutdown was complete in the town,” Shimla Beopar Mandal president Ramesh Sood told IANS.

He, however, said shops dealing with daily necessities, medicines and eatables were exempt from the shutdown.

The city’s business hub The Mall wore a deserted look with shopkeepers joining the all-India strike by the trading community to protest allowing foreign equity in multi-brand retail.

Likewise, shops in prominent towns like Solan, Dharamsala, Kangra, Palampur, Mandi, Rampur, Kullu, Manali, Una and Hamirpur remained closed for the day.

Tikender Panwar, a state CPI-M leader, said: “The party opposes the decision as it would destroy the livelihood of small retailers and lead to monopolisation of the retail sector by multinational companies.”

He said the strike was successful across the state.