Islamabad Traders Protest Viral Plastic Bag Crackdown Incident

A crackdown against plastic shopping bags in Islamabad has triggered anger among traders after a video of an alleged confrontation between a police official and a shopkeeper circulated on social media. The incident reportedly took place in the Loi Bher police station area during a district administration campaign targeting the use and sale of plastic bags.

According to the affected shopkeeper, an official allegedly slapped him after several shopping bags were found at his shop, threatened him with serious consequences and took him to the police station. The shopkeeper maintained that some of the bags recovered from the premises were among the types allowed by the government.

The incident quickly drew attention because traders said the crackdown had gone beyond enforcement and turned into humiliation and intimidation. Despite the video spreading online, the district administration and police had not initially issued an explanation regarding the incident, leaving traders to demand accountability from senior authorities.

Market representatives, including All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran and Traders Action Committee Islamabad president Ajmal Baloch and Traders Action Committee Islamabad secretary Khalid Chaudhry, strongly condemned the alleged treatment of shopkeepers. They urged the Interior Minister to take notice and demanded action against those involved in the incident.

Trader leaders said shopkeepers had been facing arrests, fines and public humiliation over the past three days in the name of enforcing the plastic-bag ban. They argued that enforcement should focus on factories producing illegal bags rather than only penalising retailers who are often the last link in the supply chain.

Baloch questioned why authorities were not taking action against manufacturers of banned bags, saying that arresting or fining shopkeepers would not solve the problem. Chaudhry also objected to the use of alleged self-appointed magistrates against traders and said the administration should act according to the law.

The traders further alleged that confiscated bags had later returned to markets for sale and that smuggled bags seized by customs had been auctioned and re-entered circulation. They urged the Environmental Protection Agency and the district administration to promote cloth bags and provide viable alternatives instead of relying only on punitive action.

The dispute now appears likely to widen if the administration does not respond. Traders warned that failure to release detained shopkeepers and end the alleged humiliation could lead them to decide on protests and a shutter-down strike, turning a local enforcement action into a broader confrontation over how the plastic-bag ban is being implemented.